COLLECTED  FRUITS 

OF    GS^G5:>5Gs:s5a5:>« 

OCCULT  TEACHING 


By      A.  P.  SINNETT    s/D 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


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in  2007  with  funding  from 

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http://www.archive.org/details/collectedfruitsoOOsinniala 


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BY 

A.  p.  SINNETT 

AUTHOR  OF    "the  occult   WORLD,"    "ESOTERIC   BUDDHISM' 
"  THE  GROWTH   OF  THE   SOUL,"  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 
19Z0 


First  Published  in  1919 
Second  Impression  1920 


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PREFACE 

Theosophical  literature,  from  the  outset  of  the  great 
movement  it  inaugurated,  has  been  largely  concerned 
with  previously  unknown  laws  governing  the  origin 
and  destinies  of  humanity,  the  birth  and  progres 
of  worlds,  the  coherent  design  of  the  Solar  System 
and,  in  short,  with  the  interpretation,  in  the  light  of 
knowledge  till  recently  reserved  for  a  very  few,  of  the 
,^.  stupendous  Divine  purpose  underlying  physical  mani- 
festation. My  own  earlier  books.  The  Occult 
World  and  Esoteric  Buddhism,  forecast  rather 
than  embodied  teaching  along  such  lines,  revealing 
the  existence  of  those  whom  I  called  "  the  Elder 
Brethren  of  Humanity,"  who  had  risen  above  the  level 
of  generally  current  civilization,  and  thus  had  touch 
with  the  wisdom  of  the  Divine  Hierarchy.  An 
experim«^nt  was  in  progress  to  ascertain  if  ordinary 
•  culture  had  attained  a  stage  at  which  it  would  appreci- 
ate a  flood  of  new  thought  relating  to  a  science  loftier 
than  any  dealing  exclusively  with  phenomena  per- 
ceptible to  the  physical  senses,  and  in  connection  with 
that  experiment  I  was  privileged  to  receive  a  con- 
siderable volume  of  information  relating  to  the  early 
history  of  mankind  millions  of  years  antedating  the 
range  of  historical  record ;  also  to  the  concatenation 
of  worlds  and  the  ultimate  destinies  of  our  own. 

Though  crude  and  incomplete,  this  preliminary 
sketch  of  occult  science  and  of  the  agency  through 
which,  though  unknown  to  the  multitude,  the  purpose 
of  creation  was  being  worked  out  on  the  physical 
plane,  thrilled  the  readers  of  the  message  all  over  the 

5 


6  Preface 

civilized  world  to  an  extent  which  gave  rise  to  an 
organization,  the  Theosophical  Society,  which  now 
covers  Great  Britain,  Europe  generally,  and  the 
United  States  of  America  with  innumerable  branches. 
Fresh  teaching  and  information  relating  to  the  great 
subjects  enumerated  above  has  meanwhile  been 
flowing  into  my  hands,  and  much  has  been  embodied 
in  my  book.  The  Growth  of  the  Soul;  also,  since 
the  publication  of  that  book,  in  a  large  number  of 
articles  in  reviews,  pamphlets,  and  "  Transactions  " 
of  the  London  Lodge  of  the  Theosophical  Society  over 
which  I  preside.  The  present  volume  collects  these 
scattered  contributions  to  our  super-physical  know- 
ledge, still  growing  and  expanding  in  its  scope  and 
value.  At  some  later  date  the  fundamental  principles 
laid  down  in  the  earlier  books,  the  illuminating  inter- 
pretation of  these  in  the  essays  now  reproduced  and 
further  light  on  mysteries  previously  obscure,  may 
constitute  something  resembling  a  complete  spiritual 
science.  But  students  need  not  wait  for  this  result 
before  assimilating  the  knowledge  already  acquired. 
During  this  life  we  are  each  of  us  "  imprisoned  in  the 
five  senses,"  and,  though  thought  reaches  out  far 
beyond  them,  its  range  is  limited  by  the  capacity  of 
the  physical  brain.  In  time  that  capacity  will 
expand.  Ideas  easily  grasped  by  the  man  of  modern 
culture  are  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the  savage. 
The  improved  intellectual  mechanism  of  future 
generations  will  no  doubt  deal  freely  with  conceptions 
which  present  culture  cannot  appreciate.  Spiritual 
science,  however,  is  an  infinitude,  and  no  attempt  to 
interpret  it  in  physical  plane  language  will  ever  be 
more  than  suggestive  and  alluring. 

But  it  is  equally  true  that  human  faculty  on  this 
plane  of  fife  will  develop  as  time  goes  on  under  the 
influence  of  effort  to  expand  its  range.  Unconsciously 
in  most  cases  students  of  the  spiritual  science  within 


Preface  7 

our  reach  will  do  more  than  profit  by  understanding 
it  so  far.  They  will  have  established  a  claim  on 
Nature  for  improved  vehicles  of  consciousness  in 
later  lives,  and  will  have  contributed  to  raise  the 
level  of  human  understanding.  I  am  sure  the  ex- 
perience of  many  theosophists  will  show  that  within 
the  limits  of  the  current  life  ideas  can  now  be  easily 
handled  in  thought,  which  could  not  have  been  held 
in  the  mind  during  earlier  periods  of  study.  These 
may  still  defeat  the  resources  of  physical  plane  speech, 
but  they  forecast  intellectual  conditions  that  will 
ultimately  outrun  those  resources.  That  state  of 
things  should  be  a  stimulus  to  theosophical  study  in 
whatever  direction  it  may  tend,  and  few  of  the  essays 
in  this  volume  will  be  found  destitute  of  hints  that 
will  attract  thought  into  some  new  channel  of 
spiritual,  or,  at  least,  of  super-physical  enlighten- 
ment. 

In  no  direction,  as  we  press  forward  exploring  the 
mysteries  of  Nature,  may  we  expect  to  attain  finality. 
Broad  principles  may  be  firmly  estabhshed  and  at 
first  they  seem  to  be  clearly  outlined.  Search  for 
detail  soon  renders  the  outline  shadowy  without 
suggesting  any  distrust  of  the  broad  principle.  .*Tor 
example,  the  most  fundamental  teaching  of  Theosophy 
in  relation  to  current  human  life  shows  us  Rein- 
carnation as  essential  to  the  spiritual  growth  of  each 
Ego^  In  one  of  the  essays  in  this  book  on  Theo- 
sophical Teachings  liable  to  be  Misunderstood,  so 
much  detail  is  added  to  the  original  teaching  on  this 
subject  that  when  we  absorb  this  the  broad  idea 
without  that  detail  seems  as  likely  to  mislead  as  to 
instruct.  Earlier  statements  concerning  the 
mechanism  of  the  Solar  System,  the  planetary  chains, 
the  successive  "  manvantaras,"  etc.,  were  vividly 
significant  at  first.  They  remain  as  revelations  of 
natural  truth  that  we  can  never  lose  touch  with,  but 


8  Preface 

surrounded  by  the  later  interpretation  dealt  with  in 
some  of  the  present  essays,  concerning  the  way  in 
which  the  planetary  chains  are  concatenated  together 
and  the  way  in  which  the  manvantaras  expand  and 
contract,  the  first  sketches  of  the  truth  are  seen  to 
fail  altogether  in  showing  it  illustrative  of  the 
beautiful  symmetry  and  purpose  of  the  Divine  design. 
Some  readers  of  the  earlier  books  are  too  easily 
satisfied.  The  genuine  occult  student  will  never  stand 
still.  Henry  V.,  preparing  for  battle  at  Agincourt, 
declared  that:  "  If  it  be  a  sin  to  covet  honour,  I  am 
the  most  offending  soul  alive."  And  the  occult 
student  may  think  of  knowledge — the  true  knowledge, 
the  comprehension  and  appreciation  of  Divine  mani- 
festation— in  the  same  heroic  spirit. 


CONTENTS 


TAGR 


Preface         .......  ^ 

This  World's  Place  in  the  Universe    -            -            -  ii 

Future  Life — and  Lives   -            -            -            -            -  29 

Religion  under  Repair     -            -            -            -            -  48 

Religion  under  Repair:  A  Reply  to  Professor  Lindsay  64 

The  Occultism  in  Tennyson's  Poetry    -            -            -  79 

Creeds  more  or  less  Credible    -            -            -            -  93 

Imprisoned  in  the  Five  Senses    -            -            -            -  iii 

Our  Visits  to  this  World             -            -            -            -  129 

The  Masters  and  their  Methods  of  Instruction        -  147 

Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge      -            -            -  160 
The  Nature  of  Consciousness. 
The  Planetary  Chain. 
The  Astral  World. 
The  Infinite  Future. 

The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge   -            -            -            -  189 

Theosophical  Teachings  Liable  to  be  Misunderstood  218 

The  Super-Physical  Laws  of  Nature    -            -            -  238 

The  Higher  Occultism      -----  253 

The  Objects  of  the  Theosophical  Society       -            -  262 

9 


I  o  Contents 


PAGB 


The  Borderland  of  Science         -  -  -  -    272 

Astronomy,  Overt  and  Occult. 

1.  Nebulae. 

2.  Within  or  Beyond  our  Universe. 

3.  Planets,  Stars  and  Atoms, 

Meta-science. 

Atoms  and  Ether 

Atoms  and  Misunderstandings. 

Archeology:  Relics  of  Antiquity         -  -  -    291 

Cataclysms  and  Earthquakes      -  .  -  .    295 

Poetry  and  Theosophy     -----    304 

Note-  ----.._    308 


COLLECTED    FRUITS    OF 
OCCULT  TEACHING 

THIS  WORLD'S  PLACE  IN  THE  UNIVERSE 

Religious  emotion  was,  till  recently,  at  war  with 
science — especially  indignant  with  astronomy  for 
disturbing  primitive  conceptions  as  to  the  way  this 
world  was  first  opened  for  business.  But  a  bold 
application  of  the  principle  that  biblical  language  need 
not  be  taken  at  the  foot  of  the  letter  gradually  en- 
larged its  interior  meaning  until  the  rotundity  and 
annual  revolution  of  the  earth  were  fitted  in  to  the 
story  told  in  Genesis.  Evolution  as  accounting  for 
the  human  form  then  came  within  sight  of  a  gloomy 
toleration — if  Modernists  insisted  on  it.  That,  how- 
ever, which  religious  emotion  has  not  yet  quite 
realized  is  the  sublime  truth  that,  the  more  we  are 
enabled  to  penetrate  the  deep  mysteries  of  Nature, 
the  more  profoundly  reverent  we  become  in  contem- 
plating the  impenetrable  infinitudes  of  that  Divine 
Power  which  operates  alike  in  guiding  the  growth  of 
protoplasm  and  the  majestic  mechanism  of  the  Solar 
System.  Critics  who  preferred — when  Darwin  first 
shattered  the  paraphernalia  of  medieval  theology, 
like  a  bull  in  a  china  shop — to  remain  on  the  side  of 
the  Angels,  made  the  immense  mistake  of  supposing 
that  the  Angels  (regarded  as  agents  of  Divinity) 
would  be  disestablished  if  we  began  to  approach  an 
understanding  of  the  way  they  did  their  work.  A 
view  growing  familiar  with  some  students  of  Nature 


12      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

involves  the  idea  that  even  natural  forces  are  the 
expression  of  conscious  will  on  some  exalted  levels  of 
spiritual  potency;  that  the  so-called  "  laws  "  of 
Nature  are  definite  Divine  enactments — not  merely 
blind  attributes  of  matter.  And  we  can  hardly  begin 
to  form  a  rational  conception  of  the  world's  develop- 
ment under  Divine  control  without  including  this 
idea  in  our  thinking. 

The  reconciliation  of  religion  and  science  has  been 
advancing  by  leaps  and  bounds  of  late,  and  "  Seven 
Men  of  Science,"  all  of  the  foremost  rank,  recently 
published  a  collection  of  addresses  frankly  declaring 
their  behef  in  God,  as  a  fundamental  idea  underlying 
scientific  study.  The  record  of  the  old  "  Conflict  " 
is  now  ancient  history.  But  this  result  is  not  a  con- 
clusion. It  is  only  a  beginning.  The  seven  scientific 
leaders,  quite  in  agreement  as  regards  the  main 
proposition,  may  be  groping  in  various  directions 
in  the  search  for  a  definite  mental  picture  of  the  God 
in  whom  they  believe.  Perhaps  all  would  admit  that 
the  reality  does  not  lend  itself  to  the  formation  of 
a  mental  picture.  Religion  reconstructed  on  scientific 
principles  must  build  up  a  conception  of  Divinity  by 
working  from  below  upward.  The  earlier  fashion 
attempted  to  work  from  above  downward.  "  In  the 
beginning  "  certain  things  happened,  we  were  told — 
by  teachers  who,  quite  reasonably  in  dealing  with 
young  people,  ignored  the  idea  that  Eternity  has  no 
beginning.  But  now  that  embryology  must  be 
recognized  as  a  method  of  creation  when  we  talk  about 
the  human  form  we  feel  the  need  of  an  embryology 
as  applied  to  planetary  creation.  And  so  we  come 
to  recognize  the  subtle,  mysterious  laws  of  organic 
growth — not  as  displacing  the  Divine  creative  Will^ 
but  as  the  agency  by  which  it  is  fulfilled  in  physical 
manifestation . 

So  by  degrees,  with  help  available  at  the  present  day,, 


This  World's  Place  in  the  Universe       1 3 

for  those  especially  who  realize  that  human  conscious- 
ness can  be  reached  by  other  channels  of  perception 
besides  the  five  senses,  we  reach  the  idea  that  Divine 
agency  is  worked  out  through  an  enormously  elaborate 
and  magnificent  hierarchy  of  Spiritual  Beings,  beyond 
whom,  in  dazzHng  and  (as  yet)  impenetrable  mystery, 
there  exists  an  incomprehensibly  sublime  Power,  of 
whom  the  Sun  may  be  thought  of  as  the  physical 
symbol. 

In  the  mental  search  for  God  we  may  pause  at  this 
stage  of  the  effort.  Human  intelligence  is  more 
limited  in  its  scope  than  early  philosophers  imagined, 
but  is  quite  limitless  as  regards  its  expectations.  It 
presumes  to  talk  about  the  Divine  power  which 
accounts  for  the  whole  universe.  Distant  stars, 
though  to  be  counted  by  millions  and  mostly  gigantic 
compared  with  the  star,  or  Sun,  to  which  we  belong, 
must  come  into  the  same  creative  scheme  as  the 
sparrows  in  Kensington  Gardens .  The  Sunday  School 
teacher  can  be  content  with  nothing  less  than  a  God 
who  is  responsible  for  the  Milky  Way  as  well  as  for 
the  milky  mothers  of  the  field.  And  medieval 
painters  have  even  presented  us  with  his  portrait. 
In  some  foreign  gallery  I  have  seen  him  included 
in  a  family  group — the  Father  with  a  long  beard  is  in 
an  armchair  with  the  Third  Person  of  the  Trinity 
as  a  pigeon  perched  on  the  back,  and  the  Son  in  a 
chair  of  somewhat  lesser  dignity  beside  him.  En- 
lightened members  of  the  English  Church  would 
generally  be  shocked  at  this  grossly  materialistic 
presentation  of  the  Divine  Mystery,  forgetful  of  their 
own  declaration  of  belief  that  Christ  ascended  into 
Heaven  and  "  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God,  the 
Father  Almighty."  From  The  Fudge  Family  in 
Paris  we  learn  that  a  certain  forcible  expression, 
impossible  in  English,  "  doesn't  sound  half  so  shocking 
in  French,"  and  on  the  same  principle  an  idea  merely 


14      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

formulated  in  words  that  no  one  stops  to  invest  with 
a  meaning  is  not  half  so  shocking  as  the  same  idea 
depicted  on  canvas  by  means  of  oil  colour. 

In  the  days  of  the  old  "  Conflict  "  those  who  dealt 
with  it — Draper  and  others — dwelt  especially  on  the 
savage  ferocity  with  which  the  early  Church  en- 
deavoured to  stifle  astronomical  discovery.  Faith, 
at  that  time,  might  have  been  correctly  described  as 
"  the  faculty  that  enables,  us  to  believe  what  we  know 
to  be  untrue."  It  was  endangered  by  the  astronomical 
emphasis  of  the  untruthfulness  in  question,  but  in  the 
long  run,  as  astronomy  held  the  field,  faith  fell  into 
line  with  discovery,  and  in  spite  of  ecclesiastical 
opposition  became  ennobled  in  character.  The  God 
of  a  Semitic  tribe  might  with  an  effort  of  imagination 
be  fitted  into  an  armchair.  The  God  of  a  Solar 
SjT'stem,  including  a  central  Sun  many  thousand 
times  bigger  than  the  Earth — and  the  orbit  of  Neptune 
thousands  of  milHon  miles  in  diameter — ^was  in  a 
different  order  of  magnitude.  And  if  we  attempt 
to  strain  imagination  by  looking  upward  in  thought 
at  that  inconceivable  splendour,  we  may  realize  the 
futility  of  the  effort  by  attempting  to  gaze  directly 
with  open  eyes  on  a  fine  day  at  the  physical  Sun. 
Human  sight  will  not  tolerate  the  unveiled  light. 
Human  understanding  will  not  bring  the  God-idea, 
once  cleared  of  blundering  theology,  to  a  definite  focus. 

But  astronomical  discovery  does  not  come  to  a 
standstill  even  after  measuring  the  orbit  of  Neptune 
and  accounting  for  the  canals  of  Mars,  nor  after 
attempting,  however  unsuccessfully,  to  set  time 
limits  to  the  radiant  energy  of  the  Sun.  We  are  all 
agreed — though  astronomy  affords  scope  for  disagree- 
ment in  some  directions — that  the  whole  Solar 
System — the  Sun  attended  by  his  family  of  planets — 
is  moving  through  space  at  about  the  rate  of  twelve 
to  fourteen  miles  per  second.     Whither  is  it  bound  ? 


This  World's  Place  in  the  Universe       15 

Greenwich  authorities  would  hardly  yet  venture  on  a 
definite  reply,  but  we  may  if  we'  like  indulge,  in 
connection  with  that  question,  in  the  fascinating 
pursuit  known  to  science  as  "  extrapolation  " —  the 
application  to  regions  of  thought  outside  the  range 
of  definite  observation,  of  the  assumption  that  laws 
operative  within  that  range  hold  good  to  infinitudes 
•beyond.  Almost  all  the  Heavenly  bodies — quite  all 
if  we  merely  except  meteorites  and  some  comets — 
move  in  elliptical  orbits  more  or  less  closely  approxi- 
mating to  the  circular  form.  Plainly,  it  is  much  more 
probable  that  the  Sun's  motion  is  in  conformity  with 
this  general  principle,  than  that  it  is  a  blind  rush 
in  a  straight  course,  which  would  infallibly  in  the 
long  run  give  rise  to  a  cosmic  catastrophe.  If  the 
uniformities  of  Nature  are  maintained,  the  Sun  must 
be  revolving  in  an  orbit  around  some  definite  sidereal 
centre.  Obviously  such  an  orbit  must  be  so  vast  that 
any  measurable  arc  will  appear  to  be  a  straight  line. 

Now  I  must  venture  to  outrun  even  extrapolation  in 
the  explanation  I  have  to  give.  I  have  been  permitted 
in  the  pages  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  to  maintain  the 
position  that,  in  the  course  of  the  present  "  Armaged- 
don," Unseen  Powers  embodying  loftier  knowledge 
than  common  humanity  has  yet  reached  are  taking 
part  in  the  struggle.  Some  of  us  in  conscious  touch 
with  them  are  sometimes  with  their  help  enabled 
to  anticipate  scientific  discovery.  In  that  way  I 
was  concerned,  some  dozen  years  before  the  dis- 
covery of  Radium,  with  anticipations  relating  to  the 
constitution  of  matter,  ultimately  verified  by  that 
discovery  and  subsequent  work  based  upon  it. 
Happily  those  anticipations  were  published  at  the 
time,  so  their  character  as  a  successful  forecast  is  not 
open  to  dispute.  In  another  direction  certain  future 
conclusions  in  connection  with  astronomy  may  be 
anticipated  in  their  turn.     The  centre  around  which 


1 6      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

the  Solar  System  is  gravitating  will  be  found  to  be 
the  star  Sinus.  Common  knowledge  gives  us  an 
approximate  measure  of  some  stellar  distances.  The 
figure  accepted  by  astronomers  for  the  moment  as 
the  distance  of  Sirius,  taking  "  hght-years  "  as  the 
unit,  is  8.8,  or  call  it  eight  and  three-quarters.  A^ 
light-year  is  the  distance  light  crosses  in  a  year, 
moving  at  the  rate  of  186,000  miles  per  second.  So 
it  would  be  inconvenient  to  give  stellar  distances  in 
miles.  Moreover,  there  is  a  wide  margin  for  possible 
errors  in  calculations  concerned  with  the  parallax  of 
stars.  Perhaps  it  will  be  found  that  Sirius  is  a  bit 
farther  off  than  the  currently  accepted  calculation 
assumes,  but  anyhow  the  real  distance  is  in  the  same 
order  of  magnitude.  Estimates  of  the  size  and 
luminosity  of  Sirius  vary  very  widely — from  300  to 
1000  times  the  size  and  brightness  of  our  Sun,  but 
either  guess  fits  in  with  the  main  idea  to  be  grasped. 
Obviously  our  Sun  cannot  be  the  only  one  that  revolves 
around  Sirius.  Directly  that  idea  is  appreciated, 
we  realize  that  Sirius  must  be  the  central  sun  of  a 
vast  system,  in  which  such  suns  as  ours  must  be,  to 
Sirius,  what  the  planets  are  to  our  Sun. 

That  this  is  so,  can  only  be  ascertained  definitely 
by  those  in  touch  with  sources  of  information  not  yet 
within  general  reach,  but  at  all  events,  meanwhile, 
as  a  hypothesis,  the  statement  is  clearly  in  harmony 
with  the  uniformities  of  Nature.  To  regard  our 
^  Solar  System  and  all  the  others  presumably  repre- 
sented by  the  millions  of  stars  in  the  sky,  as  scattered 
at  random  about  space  would  be  insulting  to  Supreme 
Wisdom  and  Omnipotence.  The  conception  could 
only  be  acceptable  to  thinkers  at  the  kindergarten 
stage.  Certainly  up  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
grown  and  grave  men  did  discuss  the  question  whether 
this  was  the  only  inhabited  world  in  the  Universe, 
but  increasing  intelligence  has  rendered  us  at  once 


This  World's  Place  in  the  Universe       17 

wiser  and  more  modest  than  when  a  doubt  on  that 
subject  was  possible.  I  need  not  go  over  the  evidence 
that  makes  an  important  group  of  astronomers  certain 
that  Mars  (to  confine  our  attention  for  a  moment  to 
our  own  Solar  System)  is  the  abode  of  life  not  entirely 
unlike  our  own.  The  other  planets  may  not  have 
climatic  conditions  like  our  own,  but  the  resources 
of  Nature  may  easily  provide  vehicles  of  life  appro- 
priate to  any  conditions  of  temperature;  while  those 
of  us  who  know  something  more  about  life,  conscious- 
ness and  spiritual  growth  than  mere  surgery  would 
suggest,  regard  with  disdain  the  idea  that  any  worlds 
— whether  around  our  sun  or  in  the  infinitudes  of 
space — can  be  mere  inanimate  masses  of  matter 
destitute  of  the  loftier  purposes  that  life  implies. 

Just  for  the  present  all  information  relating  to  the 
Sirian  Cosmos  must  remain  hypothetical  until  the 
astronomy  of  the  future  overtakes  the  forecast,  but 
its  value  as  illuminating  reverent  imagination 
reaching  in  the  direction  of  Divinity  is  very  great. 
It  helps  us  to  realize  that  in  all  such  upward  reaching 
we  must  blend  with  the  idea  of  which  we  are  in 
search,  the  idea  of  infinity.  In  the  search  within  the 
limits  of  our  own  Solar  System  we  are  hopelessly 
dazzled  long  before  we  touch  those  limits.  But  the 
conception  of  the  Sirian  Cosmos  shows  us  that  in- 
comprehensible as  the  Solar  Divinity  may  be — 
"  That  "  (our  miserable  word  "  he  "  is  degrading  in 
such  use)  can  only  be  in  some  dependent  relationship 
to  the  Divinity  guiding  the  whole  Sirian  Cosmos;  in 
other  words  that  "  God  "  is  an  infinite  hierarchy. 
Faintly  we  realize  that  God — when  we  think  of  the 
Sirian  Cosmos — is,  in  some  wholly  incomprehensible 
way,  greater  even  (in  a  stupendous  degree)  than 
God,  when  we  think  of  the  Solar  System  and  of  the 
various  worlds  within  it  of  which  ours  is  one.  And, 
indeed,  human  intelligence,  limited  in  its  grasp  of 

2 


1 8      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

detail,  unlimited  when  reaching  out  towards  infinitude, 
perceives,  the  moment  this  last  idea  is  touched,  that 
the  Sirian  Cosmos  itself  must  be  in  relationship 
with  some  still  more  expanded  and  sublime  organism ; 
that  Sirius  cannot  be  a  stationary  body  but  must 
itself,  attended  by  all  its  family  of  solar  systems, 
be  dependent  on  some  other  centre  of  energy,  on 
some  other  superior  manifestation  of  the  infinite  God. 
It  is  futile  even  to  speculate  as  to  where  or  what 
that  centre  may  be,  but  the  feeling  that  it  must  exist 
vaguely  hints  at  a  unity  pervading  the  whole  visible 
universe.  Along  that  line  of  thought,  however,  lies 
a  mental  bewilderment  that  bars  further  progress. 
We  can  play  in  imagination  still  with  astronomical 
figures.  The  bright  star  Arcturus  is  said  to  be  140 
light-years  distant  from  us,  and  yet  it  shines  nearly 
as  brilliantly  as  Sirius.  What  must  be  its  actual 
magnitude  and  lustre  ?  What  must  be  its  place  in 
the  universal  scheme  ?  And  some  other  stars  of 
almost  equivalent  brilliancy  are  beyond  parallactic 
measurement  altogether.  But  the  purpose  which  all 
fulfil  must  be  within  the  grasp  of  infinite  Divinity. 

Science,  growing  more  and  more  intimately  welded 
with  spiritual  aspiration  as  human  intelligence  ex- 
pands, grants  us  some  mental  illumination  as  we  seek 
to  penetrate,  so  far  as  that  may  be  possible,  the 
mysteries  of  the  Divine  Hierarchy.  Certainly,  if 
we  turn  our  attention  from  the  appalling  magnitudes 
of  astronomy  to  the  phenomena  of  the  infinitely  little, 
the  measurements  we  have  to  deal  with  are  equally 
bewildering.  Physicists  tell  us  that  a  cubic  centi- 
metre of  water  contains  thirty  trillions  of  molecules. 
That  if  a  glass  globe  four  inches  in  diameter  were 
absolutely  empty  and  air  molecules  admitted  at  the 
rate  of  a  hundred  millions  a  second  50,000  years 
would  elapse  before  the  globe  was  full.  Such  figures 
are  more  amusing  than  instructive,  but  they  may 


This  World's  Place  in  the  Universe       19 

help  us,  to  some  extent,  in  our  attempt  to  formulate 
a  conception  of  the  Divine  Hierarchy.  The  attributes 
of  the  physical  molecules — the  laws  the}'-  obey,  are 
obviously  as  much  an  expression  of  Divine  Will  as 
the  forces  that  regulate  the  march  of  solar  systems 
in  the  Sirian  Cosmos.  Within  our  Solar  System  the 
Divine  Hierarchy  extends  downward,  as  definitely  as, 
beyond  it,  it  extends  upward;  and  though,  as  we 
attempt  to  understand  it  in  its  lower  levels,  we  shall 
soon  find  mental  difficulties  almost  as  insuperable  as 
those  attending  efforts  in  the  other  direction,  we  can, 
with  help  from  certain  sources  of  information,  arrive 
at  some  intelligible  conclusions. 

Astronomy  may  still  help  us  to  some  extent.  The 
conditions  that  must  attend  life  in  the  various  planets 
of  our  system  must  obviously  differ  very  widely. 
Temperature  may  vary  from  below  that  of  ice  to  above 
that  of  steam.  Vehicles  of  consciousness — bodies  of 
whatever  matter  may  be  suitable,  must  vary  accord- 
ingly. We  may  safely  assume  that  while  some  of  the 
fundamental  laws  of  Nature  may  hold  good  through- 
out the  system,  others,  for  example  all  appertaining 
to  organic  growth,  may  need  local  modification. 
Each  world  must  be  controlled,  even  as  regards  its 
physical  manifestation,  by  appropriate  Divine 
Agency.  And  very  little  progress  beyond  primitive 
theology  makes  us  sure  that, — ^first  of  all  as  regards  our 
own  world — there  are  teeming  regions  of  life  that  lie 
beyond  the  cognition  of  the  physical  senses.  Talk 
therefore  of  our  familiar  planets  should  properly 
relate  to  planetary  schemes,  embracing  much  more 
than  the  visible  globes.  So  we  reach  the  conception 
that  for  each  planetary  scheme  the  Divine  will  of 
the  whole  Solar  System  must  transmit  itself  through 
an  agency  that  is  still  so  Divine  in  its  character  as 
to  dazzle  our  mental  sight. 

None  the  less  a  very  important  stage  in  our  study 


20      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

of  the  Divine  Hierarchy  is  reached  when  we  realize 
the  principle  of  agency  as  working  through  it.  The 
mind  leaps  to  the  conclusion  that  this  principle 
must  be  operative  right  down  to  the  subtle  activities 
of  Nature  that  we  are  in  the  habit  of  summing  up  in 
the  word  "  Evolution."  For  the  verification  of  this 
conjecture  we  must  obviously  be  dependent  on 
information  received  from  those  sources  of  super- 
phj'^sical  knowledge  above  referred  to,  such  informa- 
tion in  turn  being  only  subject  to  the  check  imposed 
by  our  own  critical  faculties.  Does  it  appeal  to  our 
intelligence  as  essentially  reasonable  in  its  character  ? 
Leaving  that  question  to  be  determined  later,  I  will 
first  endeavour  to  describe  the  agency  through  which 
the  purpose  of  the  Divine  Power  presiding  over  the 
planetary  scheme  to  which  this  world  belongs,  appears 
to  be  worked  out  in  physical  manifestation. 

We  have  to  think  of  the  Unseen  realms  of  Nature  as 
inhabited  by  hosts  of  spiritual  beings  concerned 
with  the  direction  of  the  forces  (emanating  from 
super-Divine  Will)  which  not  merely  guide  organic 
growth  but  provide  for  the  growth  of  the  spiritual 
essence  with  which  such  growth  is  associated. 
Language  is  apt  to  break  down  in  one's  hands  as  a 
means  of  convej'^ing  ideas  that  are  inextricably  blended 
with  still  more  subtle  underlying  ideas.  We  are 
living  in  a  world  the  whole  raison  d'Hre  of  which 
resides  in  the  opportunity  it  affords  for  the  growth  and 
expansion  of  spiritual  consciousness.  The  experiences 
of  consciousness  in  association  with  physical  environ- 
ment are  the  conditions  providing  for  its  growth. 
We  may  plunge  down  in  search  of  the  beginnings  of 
such  growth  to  levels  of  consciousness  far  below  those 
of  humanity.  But  leaving  that  vast  area  of  thought 
untrodden,  the  growth  of  spiritual  consciousness  as 
focussed  in  humanity  is  itself  under  the  guidance  of 
Divine  agency  whose  perfect  uniformity  of  intention, 


This  World's  Place  in  the  Universe      21 

fulfilling  the  Divine  purpose,  would,  if  we  could 
see  only  a  little  more  clearly,  present  to  imagination 
a  system  of  natural  law  on  the  moral  plane  as  un- 
alterable as  the  natural  laws  relating  to  physical 
matter  that  we  deal  with  in  the  chemist's  laboratory. 
Those  natural  laws  of  the  moral  plane  are  entangled 
with  variable  influences  arising  from  human  free  will, 
but  that  only  renders  the  task  of  the  Divine  agents 
who  guide  them  more  delicate,  not  less  specific. 

The  first  glimpses  we  get  in  this  way,  of  the  intricacy 
of  the  work  carried  out  by  the  hosts  of  Divine  agents 
engaged  in  guiding  the  world's  growth,  prepare  us 
to  find  that  a  distribution  of  function  is  carried  out  in 
that  wonderful  realm  of  activity,  so  that  while  one 
great  host  is  concerned  with  the  growth  of  conscious- 
ness, another  is  concentrated  on  the  task  of  guiding  the 
growth  of  form — of  carrying  out  the  idea  that,  for 
want  of  a  better  comprehension  of  the  process,  we  call 
the  principle  of  Evolution.  And  such  agency  works 
again  in  its  contact  with  matter  through  lower  agency 
right  down  to  the  manipulation  of  the  molecule. 
The  Divine  Hierarchy  is  infinite  both  ways;  incon- 
ceivably exalted  and  inconceivably  minute,  but  in 
the  direction  of  minutiae  still  conscious  and  purposeful. 
Intelligence,  with  a  certain  range  of  freedom  within 
limits,  guides  not  only  the  gradual  improvement  of  the 
human  form,  pari  passu  with  the  progress  of  spiritual 
growth,  but  the  humbler  development  of  form  in  the 
animal  kingdom  and  even  variation  in  the  colouring 
of  plants  and  flowers.  The  agency  concerned  with 
such  work  cannot  be  discerned  by  the  physical  senses, 
but  finer  senses  can  already  sometimes  cognize  its 
operation,  though  most  of  us  are  still  too  young  in 
evolution  to  have  come  into  full  possession  of  all  the 
faculties  latent  in  human  nature.  "  We  are  ancients 
of  the  earth  and  in  the  morning  of  the  times." 

So  brief  a  sketch  as  this  must  be  content  in  some 


22      Collected  Fruits  of  Gccult  Teaching 

directions  with  mere  faint  hints.  How  do  the  Divine 
agents  concerned,  as  declared  above,  with  the  evolu- 
tion of  form  translate  their  superphysical  powers  to 
the  physical  plane  ?  The  answer  has  to  do  with 
what  may  be  called  the  semi-intelligent  mechanism 
of  Nature.  The  mere  phrase  is  bewildering,  but  it 
deals  with  certain  aspects  of  Nature  that  science  must 
concern  itself  with  before  long.  "  Elemental 
Agency  "  cannot  properly  be  regarded  as  belonging 
to  the  Divine  Hierarchy  even  in  its  lower  levels,  but 
it  constitutes  a  vast  subsidiary  evolution  by  itself; 
cosmic  in  its  character:  related  to  much  more  than 
the  interests  of  this  world  alone ;  beginning  on  levels 
commensurate  with  the  electron  in  magnitude  and 
importance,  rising  to  conditions  in  which  definite 
forms  in  certain  fine  orders  of  matter  are  identifiable 
by  observers,  with  adequately  clairvoyant  senses,  as 
associated  with  specific  functions  in  Nature.  Ele- 
mental constitute  the  link  between  will — human 
or  Divine — and  physical  manifestation.  Obviously 
the  subject  is  one  of  stupendous  magnitude.  No  fire 
could  burn,  no  plant  could  grow,  no  human  being 
could  live  on  the  physical  plane,  and  carry  on  all  that 
business  transacted  within  his  body  of  which  he  is 
wholly  unconscious,  without  elemental  agency. 
When  science  comes  to  grapple  with  the  intricacies  of 
this  so  far  hidden  aspect  of  Nature,  it  will  look  back 
to  its  present  condition  as  one  barely  emerging  from 
the  dark  ages. 

Thus  vast  and  complicated  is  the  agency  by  which 
Divine  Will  is  fulfilled.  But  we  have  to  struggle  as 
best  we  may  with  the  idea  of  hierarchies  within 
hierarchies.  The  world  is  a  theatre  in  which  a 
stupendous  drama  is  in  process  of  performance.  The 
scenery  and  decorations  are  provided  by  Divine 
agency,  and  the  actors  are  responsible — if  we  push 
the  metaphor  to  its  extreme  limits — for  the  parts 


This  World's  Place  in  the  Universe      23 

they  play.  In  other  words,  while  Divine  agency 
invests  them  with  their  opportunity,  their  own  free  will 
is  left  to  determine  the  use  they  make  of  this.  But 
they  must  not  be  allowed  to  wreck  the  whole  under- 
taking by  too  gross  a  misuse  of  that  free  will.  The 
drama  is  intended  to  have  a  happy  ending.  So  over 
and  above  or  apart  from  the  hierarchies  that  provide 
the  conditions  Divine  ordination  provides  for  a 
governing  hierarchy  that  does  not  actually  control 
the  actors — ^put  words  into  their  mouths,  so  to  speak, 
or  manage  them  like  marionettes — but  causes  them 
to  feel  disagreeable  consequences  from  blundering; 
invests  them  with  larger  consciousness  as  they 
willingly  fall  into  line  with  the  Divine  idea.  Of 
course  that  governing  hierarchy  is  merged  in  its 
loftier  levels  with  the  superior  agents  of  infinite 
Divinity,  but  on  its  less  exalted  levels  is  in  close 
touch  with  our  own  humanity.  This  thought  leads 
up  to  what  is  perhaps  the  most  important  idea  of  all 
that  I  have  been  endeavouring  to  suggest.  Humanity 
itself  recruits  the  governing  hierarchy.  Its  members 
on  the  first  important  level  above  ordinary  humanity 
have  been,  at  some  remote  periods  in  the  past,  human 
beings  like  (the  best  of)  ourselves.  We  speak  of  them 
now,  those  of  us  who  have  the  privilege  of  more  or 
less  knowing  them,  as  great  adepts,  Masters  of  Wisdom, 
Brothers  of  the  Great  White  Lodge,  or  by  any  other 
phrases  approximately  appropriate.  They  are  in 
normal  periods  equal  to  the  task — under  Divine 
inspiration  of  which  they,  of  course,  are  vividly 
conscious — of  carrying  on  the  government  of  the 
world  in  so  far  as  it  needs  adjustment  or  interference. 
They  are  our  Allies  in  this  ghastly  abnormal  period 
in  which  humanity  is  confronted  by  an  attack  from 
such  elevated  levels  of  spiritual  potency  that,  great 
as  their  power  undoubtedly  is,  they  can  only  for  the 
moment  resist   the  awful   unseen   foe   inspiring  our 


24      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

physical  plane  enemies,  whilst  awaiting  intervention, 
ultimately  certain  if  it  becomes  necessary,  from  lofty 
levels  of  Divine  Power. 

Will  this  view  of  the  great  current  crisis  seem,  to 
some  critics,  at  variance  with  the  main  idea  that  this 
world,  like  all  others,  is  governed  by  an  infinite 
Divine  Hierarchy  of  quite  limitless  capacity  and 
directing  human  evolution  from  the  realms  of  infinite 
Love  ?  The  problem  has  been  dealt  with  at  some 
length  in  articles  for  the  Nineteenth  Century^  and 
need  only  be  referred  to  now.  Freewill,  in  one  word, 
is  the  answer.  The  ultimate  evolution  of  individual 
humanity  can  only  be  accomplished  by  investing  each 
unit  with  the  Divine  attribute  of  freewill  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree.  Half-fledged  humanity  of  the  kind 
around  us  in  abundance  is  hardly  conscious  of  the 
extent  to  which  it  enjoys  this  attribute.  It  becomes 
more  and  more  available  as  spiritual  evolution 
proceeds.  By  the  hypothesis  it  may  be  exerted  to 
fulfil  the  purpose  of  Divine  love,  in  so  far  as  that  may 
be  discerned,  or  it  may  be  perverted  to  antagonize 
that  purpose.  Within  the  limits  of  our  humanity 
the  perversion  may  not  be  carried  to  any  extreme 
degree.  But  other  humanities  have  preceded  our 
own  and  have  reached  exalted  conditions  in  which 
free  will  for  good  or  evil  was  enormously  expanded 
in  its  scope.  In  that  way  it  has  come  to  pass  that 
spiritual  evil  has  assumed  colossal  proportions  until 
at  last  it  has  challenged  Divine  Power  on  very  high 
levels.  That  is  the  challenge  with  which  we,  on  our 
humble  level,  are  now  contending.  We  feel  sure  of 
ultimate  success  because  the  mighty  spiritual  powers 
of  evil,  at  war  with  the  Divine  idea  of  humanity  (on 
this  plane  with  ourselves,  the  Allied  armies)  have 

1  "  Our  Unseen  Enemies  and  Allies  "  and  "  When  the  Dark 
Hosts  are  Vanquished,"  Nineteenth  Century  and  After,  October 
and  November,  191 5. 


This  World's  Place  in  the  Universe      25 

had  a  definite  origin  that  we  can  discern  and  have 
reached  a  definite  height  of  spiritual  power.  How- 
ever exalted  that  power,  it  is  finite.  The  Divine 
Hierarchy  is  infinite.  At  whatever  level  Satanic 
power  may  confront  it  on  equal  terms,  Divine  re- 
sources above  that  level  are  limitless.  If  exerted 
they  must  subdue  the  finite  power,  and  we  have 
reason  to  feel  sure  that  sooner  or  later  they  will  be 
exerted  to  avert  the  ruin  of  the  world. 

I  have  said  that  our  Allies  in  this  great  struggle — 
the  Masters  of  Wisdom,  or  by  whatever  name  we  like 
to  call  them — the  Chieftains  of  Humanity,  of  whose 
existence,  till  recent  years,  humanity  at  large  was 
wholly  ignorant,  are  recruited  from  amongst  ourselves 
although  none  the  less  constituting  the  first  great 
stage  of  advancement,  counting  from  below  upward, 
of  the  Divine  Hierarchy.  But  while,  beyond  them, 
conditions  of  existence  begin  to  transcend  physical 
brain  comprehension  we  can  understand  to  some 
extent  the  capacities  and  powers  of  the  beings  who 
have  attained  to  them,  and  the  functions  appertaining 
to  their  stage  of  evolution.  Certainly  that  mighty 
organization  includes  some  who  reached  high  spiritual 
dignity  before  this  world's  children  had  emerged 
from  early  races,  in  one  sense  their  nursery.  But 
none  the  less  it  includes  some  who  have  been  to 
outward  appearance  within  historic  periods  mere 
ordinary  men.  The  world,  indeed,  has  never  been 
without  a  great  ruling  Brotherhood,  though  at  one 
time  it  was  indebted  for  this  to  a  Senior  humanity. 
The  phrase  needs  amplification  to  be  fully  intelligible, 
but  a  very  little  thought  will  give  reason  to  the  idea 
that  the  history  of  this  world  and  of  our  human 
races  is  not  a  "  complete  short  story,"  in  itself,  but 
an  episode  in  universal  history. 

As  our  humanity  became  sufficiently  evolved  to 
furnish   recruits    for   the   great   ruling    Brotherhood 


26      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

its  existence  was  allowed  to  filter  out  gradually  into 
the  consciousness  of  the  few  candidates  available. 
These  were  the  few  whose  ardour  in  the  pursuit  of 
lofty  knowledge  and  whose  moral  development  were 
such  that  they  could  be  trusted  not  to  misuse  enhanced 
knowledge.  The  world  at  large  was  not  generally 
ripe  for  the  proper  appreciation  of  the  fact  that 
powers  and  knowledge  beyond  ordinary  experience 
were  attainable  by  certain  means.  A  premature 
dissemination  of  that  idea  might  have  had  unfortunate 
consequences.  But  for  the  chosen  few  it  was  re- 
vealed, and  so  it  has  come  to  pass  that  at  the  present 
day  the  great  Brotherhood  includes  many  members 
who  have  been  men  like  (the  best  of)  ourselves  within 
a  comparatively  recent  period. 

Experience  of  ordinary  life  does  not  enable  us  to 
understand  their  place  in  Nature  altogether  and 
completely.  They  work  to  a  great  extent  on  planes 
of  consciousness  beyond  the  cognition  of  the  ordinary 
senses.  They  wield  forces  as  yet  unknown  to  Science, 
using  the  physical  body  merely  as  a  vehicle  to  be 
occupied  or  left  aside  as  convenience  may  suggest: 
the  finest  clairvoyance  which  ordinary  students  of 
that  wonderful  faculty  have  ever  met  with  is,  com- 
pared with  theirs,  a  rushlight  to  an  electric  arc; 
and  physical  matter  itself  is  plastic  in  their  hands. 
In  the  higher  vehicles  of  consciousness  distances  about 
the  world  mean  nothing,  and  withal  they  are  of 
course  in  absolute  harmony  with  the  Divine  Will. 

The  view  thus  reached — that  shows  us  the  humanity 
to  which  we  all  belong  as  designed  to  recruit  the 
first,  as  we  look  upward,  of  the  spiritual  degrees  that 
in  the  aggregate  constitute  the  Divine  Hierarchy — 
is  of  supreme  significance.  Properly  understood  it 
invests  humanity  with  an  entirely  new  meaning,  as 
compared  with  that  which  merely  treats  each  item 
in  that  humanity  as  destined  to  an  infinitely  continued 


This  World's  Place  in  the  Universe       27 

individual  existence,  happy  or  unhappy,  as  the  case 
may  be.  The  crude  fancy  thus  presented  to  the 
mind  by  commonplace  religion  may  have  served  its 
purpose  while  the  world  was  young,  as  coaxing  or 
warning  an  ignorant  multitude  not  yet  ripe  for  a 
more  profound  conception,  but  philosophically  it  is 
beneath  criticism.  The  sublime  idea,  as  directly 
affecting  ourselves,  to  be  derived  from  a  conception, 
even  if  only  broad  and  incomplete,  of  the  Divine 
Hierarchy  is  that  which  shows  it  to  be  a  coherent 
entirety  stretching  upward  from  this  world  as  we 
know  it,  in  the  direction  of  absolute  infinity.  It 
enables  us,  for  the  first  time,  to  comprehend  this 
world's  place  in  the  Universe.  A  misdirected  modesty 
leads  some  of  us  occasionally  to  talk  of  this  world  as 
a  small  planet  amongst  many  greater,  attached  to 
a  tenth-rate  sun  in  a  Universe  richly  stocked  with 
others  of  enormously  greater  magnitude  and  brilliancy, 
The  infinitesimal  creatures  on  its  surface  can  only  be 
regarded,  in  this  way,  as  important  in  their  own 
estimation;  no  more  so  really  than  the  grains  of 
sand  on  the  seashore.  That  view  is  no  less  erroneous 
than  depressing.  The  humanity  for  the  sake  of 
evolving  which  this  world  exists,  represents  a  definite 
stage  in  the  evolution  of  Divine  consciousness,  which, 
besides  its  limitless  expansion  towards  infinity,  is 
susceptible  of  infinite  accretion  from  below.  There 
are  no  stages  in  the  Divine  Hierarchy  that  have  not 
been  recruited,  in  some  unfathomable  past,  from 
humanities  more  or  less  resembling  our  own. 
Eternity  stretches  both  ways  and  the  world — the 
solar  systems  of  to-day,  though  figures  would  fail 
to  suggest  their  duration  as  measured  in  our  time — 
are  manifestations  of  Divine  power  that  have  suc- 
ceeded others  and  will  be  in  turn  succeeded.  We 
count  the  nebulae  in  the  Heavens,  and  watch  the 
growth  of  future  suns  destined  to  bear  their  progeny 


28      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

of  future  worlds  and  future  candidates  for  Divine 
evolution. 

But  we  need  not  torment  imagination  by  following 
that  thought  too  far.  It  is  enough  to  know  that 
here  and  now  we  are  candidates  for  Divine  evolution ; 
that  there  is  no  solution  of  continuity  from  this  stage 
of  existence  up  to  those  that  have  been  faintly 
suggested  in  these  pages  and  are  hopelessly  dazzling 
to  mental  vision  as  we  dwell  in  thought  on  their 
attributes  and  power.  This  humanity  of  ours,  even 
as  we  contemplate  its  visible  varieties  from  the 
savage  to  the  greatest  philosopher,  is  obviously  a 
vast  procession  moving  through  the  ages,  each 
immortal  spirit  ever  seeking  new  and  new  incarnations 
till  gathered  experience  and  effort  entitle  it  to  those 
of  the  loftiest  order.  The  appreciation  of  this  idea 
marks  a  huge  advance  beyond  the  primitive  con- 
ception of  an  eternal  perpetuation  of  each  grotesquely 
incomplete  being.  But  such  an  appreciation  is  merely 
a  step  in  the  direction  of  the  grander  conception. 
The  highest  level  of  moral  and  intellectual  attainment 
on  the  stage  of  this  world's  potentialities  is  but  a  new 
beginning,  a  point  of  departure  for  a  progress  beyond 
the  precise  comprehension  of  physically  incarnate 
intelligence,  but  happily  not  altogether  veiled  from 
our  view.  No  matter  for  the  moment  whether  there 
be  other  worlds  affording  still  more  favourable 
opportunities  for  embodied  consciousness.  That  is 
no  concern  of  ours.  We  may  be  fully  content  to  know 
that  however  the  preparatory  processes  leading  up 
to  the  Divine  Hierarchy  may  be  provided  for  in  other 
worlds,  this  of  ours  has  a  place  in  the  Universe  in 
direct  relation  with  all  the  infinitudes  that  simple 
word  represents — ^with  all  that  the  most  illuminated 
reverence  can  suggest  when  we  presume  to  speak  of 
God, 


FUTURE  LIFE— AND  LIVES 

Naturally  enough  the  tragedies  of  the  War  have 
imparted  thrilUng  interest  to  some  questions  care- 
lessly disregarded  by  the  multitude  during  normal 
periods.  Is  there  an  after  life  for  all  of  us  when  we 
"  die  "  ?  Can  we  find  out  anything  about  it  in 
advance  ?  Can  we  communicate  with  those  who 
have  already  passed  on  ?  Most  current  essays 
dealing  with  such  perplexities  have  a  ludicrous  aspect 
for  millions  of  spiritualists  in  constant  touch  with 
departed  friends,  for  all  occult  students  and  for  most 
psychic  researchers.  A  writer  in  these  pages  last 
month  calmly  asserts  that  communication  with  the 
dead  "  has  never  been  definitely  proved  to  be  anything 
but  delusion  or  fraud."  If  equally  ignorant  in  other 
directions  he  might  deal  in  the  same  way  with  any 
scientific  discovery,  say,  the  retrograde  motion  of 
some  planetary  satellites,  or  the  transmutations  of 
radium.  The  vast  literature  of  spiritualism  is  flooded 
with  proof  of  the  main  idea.  More  recently  the 
literature  of  occult  research  is  rich  in  detail  con- 
■cerning  the  conditions  of  the  after  life.^     To  say  that 

^  Simply  to  show  that  I  am  not  talking  at  random  I  will  men- 
tion a  few  books  the  perusal  of  which  would  guard  writers  of  a 
certain  class  from  making  themselves  ridiculous:  Spirit  Identity, 
Psychography,  The  Higher  Aspects  of  Spiritualism,  Spirit  Teach- 
ings, A  Wanderer  in  Spirit  Lands,  The  Story  of  A  hrinziman.  Collo- 
quies with  an  Unseen  Friend,  Out  of  the  Vortex,  After  Death,  Not 
Silent  though  Dead,  In  the  Next  World,  Do  Thoughts  Perish  ?  The 
Hidden  Side  of  Things,  The  Inner  Life,  Esoteric  Buddhism,  The 
Growth  of  the  Soul,  The  Occult  World,  The  Secret  Doctrine,  A  Study 
in  Consciousness,  The  Ancient  Wisdom.     Some  of  the  books  named 

29 


30      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

knowledge  thereof  has  made  "  no  substantial  progress 
whatever  "  is  like  asserting  that  since  Galvani's 
experiment  with  frogs'  legs  our  knowledge  of  elec- 
tricity has  made  no  progress  whatever.  Raymond^ 
attracting  deserved  attention  on  account  of  its 
authorship,  is  only  the  latest  contribution  to  in- 
numerable records  of  a  similar  kind,  the  cumulative 
significance  of  which  is  overwhelming,  while  all  who 
are  patient  and  painstaking  get  personal  conviction 
for  themselves. 

Spiritualists  for  the  most  part  are  content  with  this. 
Thej-  know  their  departed  friends  still  live  and  get 
assurance  of  their  welfare.  They  look  forward  with 
confidence  to  their  own  future.  Occult  students  find 
that,  besides  evidence  of  that  order,  minute  in- 
formation relating  to  the  conditions  of  the  after  life 
can  be  obtained  by  people  still  in  this  life  when  gifted 
with  clairvoyant  faculties  of  an  appropriate  kind. 
Abundant  information  is  accumulating  in  the 
literature  of  occult  research  along  these  lines.  In  no 
department  of  human  activity  has  more  remarkable 
progress  been  made  during  the  last  thirty  years  than 
in  this  branch  of  superphysical  science.  That  progress 
has  carried  the  occult  student  far  be3''ond  elementary 
discoveries  relating  to  the  immediate  experiences  of 
the  next  life.  Certainly  these  are  intensely  interesting, 
but  do  not  in  themselves  enable  us  to  obtain  a  com- 
prehensive grasp  of  the  whole  scheme  of  evolution 
to  which  humanity  belongs.  Comprehension  of  the 
next  phase  of  hfe  marks  a  great  advance  beyond  the 
crass  ignorance  that  doubts  or  denies  even  that,  but 
it  only  helps  us  relatively  a  little  way  in  the  direction 
of  understanding  our  place  in  Nature  and  our  ultimate 
destinies.     Later    developments    of    occult    science 

relate  to  Spiritualism,  some  to  Theosophy  or  occult  science  gener- 
ally. They  are  a  mere  handful  compared  with  any  complete 
bibliography  of  either  subject. 


Future  Life — and  Lives  3 1 

enable  us  to  appreciate  both  the  value  and  limitations 
of  spiritualism.  >CThe  mediumship  on  which  it  relies 
is  better  understood  now  than  at  first.  Physical 
phenomena  are  brought  about  when  certain  invisible 
factors  in  the  medium's  constitution  can  be  withdrawn 
for  use  by  elemental  agency.  Messages  come  through 
when  certain  organs  in  the  medium's  body  respond 
to  subtle  vibrations  that  most  people  fail  to  perceive. 
But  the  medium  in  either  case  is  a  passive  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  invisible  operators,  and  these  are  of  all 
varieties.  That  accounts  for  the  nonsense  that  often 
discredits  the  method.  The  lower  regions  of  the 
next  world  swarm  with  the  (morally  and  intel- 
lectually) lower  classes  of  humanity  dying  constantly 
b}--  thousands,  and  (for  a  time  at  all  events)  remaining 
as  unintelligent  as  they  were  in  life.  Their  influences 
and  messages  are  ignoble  and  stupid,  but  even  then 
they  serve  their  purpose.  They  show  us  in  touch  with 
another  plane  of  existence.  And  meanwhile  more 
enlightened  inhabitants  of  that  plane  also  communicate 
as  the  literature  of  spiritualism  shows. 

But  spiritualism,  having  broken  down  the  deadly 
materialism  into  which  thought  was  drifting  during 
the  last  century,  paved  the  way  for  the  development 
of  occult  science.  The  later  literature  referred  to 
above  illuminates  its  origin  and  progress.  The  new 
view  of  Evolution,  of  human  destiny,  and  the 
economy  of  Nature  generally,  which  it  has  unfolded 
for  us,  cannot  be  fully  interpreted  within  the  limits 
of  a  Review  article,  but  may  be  broadly  suggested. 
-^  The  stupendous  conception  of  the  future  which  shows 
that  physical  life  has  spiritual  progress  for  its  purpose, 
that  this  world  is  the  region  in  which  that  progress 
has  to  be  accomplished,  that  other  realms  of  existence 
are  the  regions  in  which  the  work  done  here  bears 
fruit,  and  provides  for  invigorating  rest,  leads  us  to 
the  important  conception  that   each  physical  life  is 


32      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

merely  one  of  a  series;  that  whatever  experiences 
intervene  between  each  we  shall  all  of  us  come  back 
again  and  again  to  life  of  the  kind  we  are  familiar 
with  here,  that  Reincarnation  is  as  certain  a  law  of 
Nature  as  the  circulation  of  the  blood. 

Reincarnation  when  first  scientifically  defined  some 
thirty-odd  years  ago  was  quickly  seen  to  solve  many 
previously  insoluble  problems.  The  hideous  in- 
equalities of  human  condition  no  longer  seemed  to 
insult  Divine  justice.  Suffmng  became  intelligible 
when  the  conditions  of  each  new  life  were  realized  as 
the  consequences  of  previous  "  doing  "  (or  Karma). 
The  superficial  objection,  that  the  sufferer  did  not 
remember  his  former  misdoing,  was  dissipated  as  we 
reahzed  that  the  Higher  Self  did  so,  and  profited  by 
each  physical  plane  experience.  Further  knowledge 
showed  that  humanity  is  still  in  its  youth.  A  few 
more  advanced  than  the  multitude  do  remember 
former  lives.  The  whole  course  of  reasoning  need  not 
be  repeated  here.  The  appreciation  of  rebirth  as 
essential  to  a  comprehension  of  human  life  is  already 
widely  spread .  By  reason  of  misunderstanding  details 
many  people  regard  it  with  dislike,  and  the  dislike 
has  been  accentuated  by  the  eagerness  of  those  who 
seized  upon  it  at  first  to  deal  with  it  as  though  it 
covered  all  mysteries  of  the  future.  To  think  of  the 
future  as  simply  a  return  to  this  life  is  as  great  a 
blunder  as  to  think  of  the  life  which  opens  up  to  the 
person  just  seji^free  from  the  physical  body,  by  its 
death,  as  cutting  an  everlasting  existence  of  a  super- 
physical  orjder.  Only  by  failing  to  understand  it 
correctly  pin  anyone  fall  into  the  habit  of  criticizing 
the  Divine  scheme  of  evolution  unfavourably.  The 
personality  of  a  brutal  criminal  in  the  slums  is  clearly 
not  fit  for  eternal  perpetuation.  The  bishop  in  his 
palace,  if  he  honestly  considers  the  matter,  will  come 
to  the  same  conclusion  as  regards  himself.     "  We  are 


Future  Life — and  Lives  33 

ancients  of  the  Earth,"  etc.,  and,  as  we  look  back 
on  those  who  milhons  of  years  ago  were  more  ancient 
still,  we  can  see  how  better  worth  perpetuation  we 
shall  be  when  wider  experiences  of  life  shall  have 
lifted  us  as  far  beyond  our  present  condition  as  we 
now  are  beyond  that  of  our  Stone  Age  predecessors — 
ourselves  in  former  lives.  Probably,  indeed,  there 
will  be  no  stage  of  growth  from  which  the  perpetuation 
of  that  stage  would  be  conceivable.  Spiritual  pro- 
gress must  be  infinite,  but  with  that  which  lies  beyond 
the  perfection  of  humanity  we  can  only  be  concerned 
much  later  on^V  Our  present  purpose  should  be  to 
understand  the  laws  of  reincarnation  so  as  to  realize 
that  it  does  not  conflict  in  any  way  with  the  wide- 
ranging  possibilities  of  life  on  higher  realms  after 
bodily  death,  and  to  understand  that  life  so  as  to 
reaUze  that  it  does  not  interfere  with  the  necessity 
of  returning  here  to  gather  fresh  experience  and  get 
ready  for  loftier  spiritual  enlightenment  on  happier 
levels  again.  Those  of  us  who  have  taken  adequate 
advantage  of  modern  opportunities  need  not  speculate 
about  the  chances  of  survival  after  death.  That  is 
utterly  familiar  knowledge,  and,  with  varying 
facilities,  many  of  us  are  in  communication  with 
friends  who  have  passed  on,  though  it  does  not 
always  happen  that  these  have  acquired  any  scientific 
comprehension  of  their  own  destinies  beyond  the 
stage  actually  reached.  Even  for  those  of  us  here 
who  have  taken  best  advantage  of  current  oppor- 
tunities there  are  horizons  beyond  which  our  know- 
ledge does  not  extend,  but  the  region  in  which  people 
wake  up  after  they  have  discarded  the  physical 
vehicle  of  consciousness  is  already  a  pays  de  con- 
naissance  for  many  of  us,  and  there  is  pathos  as  well 
as  absurdity  in  the  fact  that,  for  much  larger  numbers, 
conventional  teaching  has  left  them  still  in  doubt 
whether  there  is  any  waking  up  at  all. 

3 


34      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

"  The  Astral  Plane  "  is  the  term  generally  used  by 
occultists  to  designate  the  vast  realm  of  unseen  life 
immediately  surrounding  this  globe.  It  is  not  a  well- 
chosen  term,  as  the  region  in  question  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  stars,  but  it  has  become  rooted  in 
occult  phraseology,  and  we  cannot  now  escape  from 
its  use.  It  is  really  a  vast  concentric  sphere  of 
matter  that  does  not  appeal  to  our  physical  senses; 
far  greater  in  size  than  the  physical  globe  it  embraces, 
including  an  enormous  variety  of  conditions,  some  of 
them  highly  disagreeable;  but  of  these  it  is  needless 
to  speak  for  the  moment,  as  the  vast  majority  of 
decently  behaved  people  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
them  but  will  pass  at  once,  when  free  of  the  body,  to 
regions  where  they  will  find  themselves  happier  than 
they  are  likely  to  have  ever  been,  even  under  favour- 
able circumstances,  in  the  physical  life.  Naturally  the 
character  of  such  happiness  is  determined  by  the  use 
that  has  been  made  of  the  earth  life  and  the  extent 
of  spiritual  development  that  the  Soul  (or  Ego)  has 
reached  in  its  long  progress  through  the  ages,  its 
innumerable  immersions  in  physical  life,  its  former 
incarnations.  The  distribution  of  the  varied  condi- 
tions is  well  understood  by  those  among  us  whose 
faculties  are  equal  to  the  task  of  cognizing  astral 
conditions,  but  for  people  who  are  not  merely  without 
such  faculties,  but  have  not  been  in  touch  with  those 
who  do  enjoy  them,  some  explanation  is  needed  in 
reference  to  matter  and  sense-perception. 

Without  plunging  into  metaphysics  in  the  direction 
of  Berkeley  it  is  obvious  that  the  reality  of  matter 
for  us  is  due  to  the  appeal  it  makes  to  our  senses. 
Even  on  this  plane  some  kinds  of  matter — most  gases 
— make  no  appeal  to  the  sense  of  sight,  but  we  know 
of  them  by  means  of  other  senses,  other  avenues  to 
consciousness.  But  most  of  us  have  no  senses 
through  which  astral  matter  can  affect  our  conscious- 


Future  Life — and  Lives  35 

ness.  Many,  however,  have,  and  that  is  the  whole 
secret  of  "  clairvoyance  "  the  actuality  of  which  as 
a  faculty  in  some  people  is  no  longer  the  subject  of 
any  sane  denial.  Clairvoyants  can  in  some  cases 
see  the  forms  in  which  astral  life  is  expressed .  For  the 
most  part  their  astral  senses  are  partially  smothered 
by  their  association  with  physical  senses.  Those, 
however,  who  can — as  the  phrase  goes — get  out  of  the 
body,  and  exist  prematurely  in  the  astral  plane,  in  the 
vehicle  of  consciousness  that  will  not  be  in  perfect 
order  for  use  until  the  physical  body,  at  death,  is 
finally  got  rid  of,  such  persons  become  at  once  fully 
conscious  of  the  astral  realm,  and — ^this  is  the  im- 
portant point  to  realize — cease  for  the  time  to  be 
conscious  of  the  physical  realm.  It  does  not  exist 
for  them  any  more  than  the  astral  world  exists  for 
the  commonplace  man  in  the  street.  All  this  is  not 
guesswork  or  metaphysical  speculation.  It  is  the 
definite  result  of  observation  as  scientific  in  its 
character  as  that  concerned  with  astronomy  or 
spectroscopic  analysis.  And  the  final  result  is  that 
we  are  now  in  a  position  to  know  that  when  we 
look  up  into  the  sky  and  see  nothing  between  us  and 
the  stars,  we  are  really  looking  through  a  realm  as  rich 
in  detail  as  the  landscape  we  can  see  on  a  fine  day  from 
a  mountain  top.  This  region  is  inhabited  by  myriads 
of  the  human  family,  amongst  them  any  we  have 
loved  and  lost  and  will  rejoin  in  due  time,  pending, 
at  a  far  remoter  date,  our  return  together  to  this 
laborious  nether  world  in  which  we  have  to  work  for 
any  grand  results  above  that  may  crown  our  ultimate 
endeavours. 

The  astral  world  is  not  merely  a  concentric  sphere 
surrounding  the  physical  globe,  it  is — one  within 
another — a  series  of  concentric  spheres,  generally 
spoken  of  by  occult  scientists  as  "  sub-planes." 
Counting  from  below  upwards,  the  first  and  second. 


36      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

actually  immersed  in  the  body  of  the  earth,  are 
regions  of  suffering  with  which  none  but  the  very 
worst  offenders  against  Divine  laws  have  anything 
to  do.  The  third  sub-plane,  above  the  earth's  surface, 
is  still  a  comfortless  region  in  which  people  who  have 
been  too  deeply  absorbed  by  the  lower  interests  of 
physical  hfe  may  have  to  spend  a  period  of  purification 
before  ascending  to  happier  levels;  but  this  vast  and 
highly  varied  range  of  experience  may  be  ignored 
for  the  moment  as  it  need  not  disturb  the  appre- 
hensions either  of  people  who  lead  fairly  wholesome 
lives  while  incarnated,  or  of  the  large  numbers  of 
gallant  victims  of  the  War  who,  on  passing  over, 
find  the  normal  consequences  of  minor  shortcomings 
obliterated  by  the  sacrifice  they  have  made  of  their 
earth  lives  in  a  noble  cause.  They,  and  the  fairly 
well  behaved  majority,  will  slip  through  the  third 
sub-level  without  finding  themselves  entangled  in  it, 
and  awake  to  consciousness  on  the  fourth  level  of 
the  astral  world,  the  circumstances  of  which  are  almost 
infinitely  varied  but  on  which,  however  varied,  happi- 
ness is  the  underlying  principle  of  all  sensation  and 
experience. 

Obviously  the  conditions  that  make  for  happiness 
will  be  very  different  for  people  who,  however 
creditable  in  a  humble  way  their  earth  lives  ma}'  have 
been,  do  not  represent  advanced  intellectual  develop- 
ment. The  great  man  of  science,  for  example,  and 
the  simplest  maid-servant  may  share  one  charac- 
teristic. Both  may  regard  some  other  human  beings 
with  genuine  love.  Their  happiness  on  the  fourth 
level  will  involve  reunion  with  such  persons  if  these 
have  passed  on  first,  ultimate  reunion  in  either  case; 
and  if  they  have  to  wait  for  this  there 'will  be  partial 
reunion  meanwhile,  for  the  Egos  of  people  in  physical 
life  are,  especially  during  sleep,  in  closer -touch  with 
the   astral    plane   than    they   realize    in    the  normal 


Future  Life — and  Lives  37 

waking  state.  But  the  highly  advanced  Egos,  the 
great  men  of  science  and  others,  have  capacities  for 
the  enjoyment  of  other  astral  opportunities  over  and 
above  those  relating  to  personal  affections.  On 
higher  levels  of  the  astral,  to  which  such  capacities 
would  be  automatically  the  passport,  magnificent 
opportunities  for  the  expansion  of  knowledge,  along 
the  lines  already  laid  down  in  physical  life,  would 
open  out.  And  for  such  Egos  centuries  of  glorious 
intellectual  achievement  are  provided  by  the  oppor- 
tunities of  the  higher  astral  levels.  They  will  all 
come  back  to  incarnation  eventually,  for  no  matter  how 
great  they  may  be,  measured  by  our  present  standards 
they  are  merely  on  the  way  towards  the  summit 
possibilities  of  human  evolution;  but  there  is  no 
hurry,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  all  the  great  scientists, 
poets,  and  artists  of  the  last  three  hundred  years  or 
more  are  still  on  the  higher  levels  of  the  astral  world, 
even  though  they  may  have  access  to  still  higher 
realms,  and  may  avail  themselves  of  that  privilege 
from  time  to  time.  The  higher  astral  levels,  for 
intricate  reasons,  are  especially  adapted  for  the 
expansion  of  such  knowledge  and  capacity  as  they 
generally  desire. 

Those  lofty  levels  share  some  characteristics  with 
the  fourth  level  but  are  less  earth-like  in  their  super- 
ficial aspect.  The  conditions  of  the  lower  fourth — 
for  the  sub-planes  include  much  variety — are 
curiously  earth-like.  Life  there  is  free  from  all  the 
tiresome  lower  needs  we  are  troubled  with,  but  people 
live  there  in  houses,  enjoy  beautiful  scenery  and  social 
intercourse,  although  the  delightful  principles  that 
prevail  there  sort  them,  so  to  speak,  into  congenial 
groups,  besides  respecting  the  individual  attachments 
of  a  genuine  character  passed  on  from  the  love  ex- 
periences of  the  earth  life.  The  progress  upward 
towards  sublime  spiritual  heights  ultimately  attain- 


38      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

able  by  all  human  beings,  is  a  gradual  progress  just 
as  the  acorn  becomes  the  oak  by  degrees,  not  between 
to-day  and  to-morrow.  If  anyone  is  discontented 
with  this  explanation  because  he  thinks  of  a  beloved 
daughter  (for  instance)  as  turned  into  an  angel  of 
light,  the  day  after  her  death,  and  in  touch  with  the 
throne  of  omniscience,  he  has  failed  to  appreciate  the 
magnificence  of  the  scale  on  which  human  perfection 
is  gradually  developed.  Some  of  us  may  already  be 
exquisite  in  goodness,  as  we  measure  character,  some 
of  us  already  splendid  in  intellectual  grandeur,  but 
infinitude  is  a  long  story.  Eternity  cannot  be 
hustled.  The  achievement  of  the  modern  occultist 
has  to  do  with  the  illumination  of  the  relatively 
immediate  future.      * 

And  some  details  of  that  fascinating  period  are 
already  within  the  range  of  our  comprehension. 
Astral  matter  is  plastic  to  the  creative  power  of 
thought.  With  a  vivid  imagination  here  we  can 
mentally  almost  visualize  objects  we  might  desire  to 
possess.  On  the  astral  plane  under  similar  conditions, 
the  things  desired — appropriate  clothing,  for  example, 
pictures,  furniture,  houses  even — would  assume 
objective  reality,  and  even  durability  when  many 
creative  thoughts  co-operate.  But  as  familiarity 
with  the  delightful  freedom  from  body  necessities 
that  the  astral  life  confers  enables  people  gradually 
to  realize  that  they  do  not  need  houses,  furniture,  and 
so  on,  those  cease  to  make  their  appearance  on  the 
higher  levels,  where  scenes  of  natural  beauty  provide 
for  all  the  wants  of  inhabitants  incapable  of  fatigue, 
hunger,  or  thirst,  unconscious  of  either  heat  or  cold. 
They  may  be  fully  conscious,  none  the  less,  of  the 
intellectual  interests  they  have  been  concerned  with 
in  physical  life,  and  may  continue  in  touch  with  the 
progress  of  art  or  discovery  down  here,  in  a  way  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  describe  in  a  few  words. 


Future  Life — and  Lives  39 

This  outline  sketch  of  the  astral  life  could,  indeed,  be 
filled  in  with  much  further  detail  and  even  be  supple- 
mented with  some  description  of  planes  or  spheres 
higher  and  beyond  the  astral.  But  in  attempting  to 
explore  these,  incarnate  human  intelligence  is  up 
against  conditions  that  defy  the  resources  of  language. 
For  every  Ego,  indeed,  each  experience  of  astral  life 
must  come  to  an  end  sooner  or  later,  though  it  may 
extend  to  many  centuries  of  our  time,  and  must  almost 
always  culminate  in  some  touch  with  the  lofty  plane 
beyond;  but  for  the  humbler,  less  developed  entities 
this  touch  would  hardly  involve  consciousness,  would 
merely  be  the  prelude  to  an  unconscious  plunge  back 
into  incarnation.  The  better  understanding  of  that 
plunge  by  the  great  many  people  in  the  present  day 
who  recognize  the  necessity  of  reincarnation  as  a 
principle,  but  dislike  the  idea  for  want  of  compre- 
hending its  method,  is  supremely  desirable. 

The  law  applies  to  all,  but  is  so  elastic  as  to  fit 
in  with  very  different  volumes  of  circumstance. 
First  we  must  remember  that  Egos  ripe  for  rein- 
carnation represent  very  different  stages  of  develop- 
ment .  The  humblest  of  these,  leaving  out  quite  savage 
races  that  we  need  not  think  about  for  the  moment, 
is  not  a  very  expanded  being  when,  after  a  long  stay 
on  the  astral,  he  has  shed  all  memories  of  his  last  hfe 
and  remains  its  spiritual  nucleus.  The  law,  guided 
by  Divine  agency,  puts  that  spiritual  nucleus  in  touch 
with  a  new  birth,  and  there  is  not  much  consciousness 
left  on  higher  planes  to  be  thought  of  as  the  Higher 
Self  of  the  new  personality.  But  in  the  case  of  the 
highly  developed  entity  astral  experience,  instead  of 
obliterating  unimportant  memories,  has  enormously 
expanded  those  that  are  important.  The  Ego  as  it 
stands  ready  for  reincarnation  is  a  being  on  the  Astral 
Plane  of  immense  complication,  built  up  by  the 
experience  of  many  lives  in  the  past,  by  that  of  many 


40      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

intervening  astral  episodes.     He  is  probably  some- 
thing much  more  than  can  be  fully  expressed  in  its 
next  immersion  in  physical  matter.     He  will  remain, 
all  through  the  earth  Hfe  to  come,  the  Higher  Self 
of  the  visible  entitj^  of  which  the  visible  entity  in  its 
phj^sical    brain    will    have   but    little   consciousness. 
But,  by  the  hypothesis,  enough  of  the  real  complete 
being  will  be  expressed  on  the  physical  plane  to  make 
the  new  incarnation  greater  than  ever  along  the  lines 
of  its  former  growth.     If  a  great  scientist  before, 
a  greater  scientist  again.     If  a  great  poet,  a  greater, 
and  so  on.     But  the  point  to  be  emphasized  for  the 
moment  is  that,  while  the  new  body  is  growing,  the 
actual  great  intellectual  being  destined  to  use  it  at 
maturity  is  doing  little  more  than  looking  on  from 
above.     If  that  idea  can  once  be  properly  grasped,  it 
does  away  with  the  fear  some  people  seem  to  feel, 
to  the  effect  that  they  with  their  present  volume  of 
consciousness  will  have  to  go  through  babyhood  and 
all  the  experiences  of  the  nursery  when  they  come 
back  to  earth  life.     During  all  that  time  they  will 
simply  be  looking  on  from  above.     To  understand 
fully  how  it  will  come  to  pass  that  the  baby  and  the 
young  child  will  in  a  certain  sense  be  conscious  also, 
is  very  difficult  for  most  of  us,  but,  however  faintly,  that 
is  what  has  to  be  realized.     There  is  so  little  of  the 
real  Ego  in  the  new  child  up  to  seven  years  of  age  that, 
if  it  dies  within  that  time,  the  trace  of  consciousness 
it  has  been  expressing  simply  reverts  to  the  Higher 
Self,  who  makes  another  attempt  a  little  later  on  and 
begins  to  animate  a  new  form,  not  infrequently  in  the  ■ 
same  family  as  the  first.     The  mother's  prettj?-  belief 
that  a  later  child  is  her  first  baby  restored  to  her  is 
often  the  outcome  of  a  literal  scientific  truth. 

If  all  goes  well  the  first  seven  years  of  the  new 

'child's  life  is  spent  in  the  growth  of  certain  invisible 

accessories  of  the  body,  which  medical  science  will 


Future  Life — and  Lives  41 

sooner  or  later  be  concerned  with  investigating. 
And,  again,  the  next  seven  years  are  spent  in  further 
developments  of  the  same  order,  but  by  the  time  the 
boy  or  girl  is  fourteen  a  good  deal  of  the  real  entity 
is  beginning  to  express  itself.  Not  the  whole  by  any 
means,  nor  even  the  whole  of  that  part  designed  for 
expression  in  the  new  life.  But  now  the  old  astral 
is  beginning  to  be  wanted  no  more.  In  the  new  life 
the  Ego  is  forming  for  itself  a  new  astral.  The 
Higher  Self  remaining  in  touch  with  lofty  planes 
will,  for  any  expression  it  may  need  on  the  astral 
plane,  make  use  of  the  new  astral.  Of  course  all  these 
changes  fade  one  into  another  like  dissolving  views. 
Nature  is  rarely  addicted  to  abrupt  metamorphoses. 

Mutatis  mutandis,  the  process  of  incarnation  as 
described  above  with  reference  to  a  well-developed  Ego 
is  applicable  also  to  people  at  intervening  stages  of 
growth .  The  return  to  physical  life  is  never  attended 
by  inconveniently  premature  consciousness  in  the 
new  body.  Or  this  broad  rule  is  only  in  rare  cases 
partially  infringed. /flere  and  there,  for  example, 
young  children  have  been  known  to  show  musical 
talent  at  a  ridiculously  early  age.  In  such  cases  the 
Ego  of  the  great  musician  in  the  background  is  so 
eager  to  express  itself  on  the  physical  plane  that  it 
cannot  wait  till  the  new  instrument  is  properly  tuned 
for  the  task.  But  even  Mozarts  who  play  the  piano  at 
six  are  not  all  there.  Their  condition  is  so  excep- 
tional that  it  need  not  be  minutely  examined  in 
connection  with  any  sweeping  survey  of  the  laws 
governing  reincarnation .  y^ 

/But  one  essential  principle  must  never  be  forgotten. 
\juided  by  supreme  wisdom  and  power,  each  new 
incarnation  is  conditioned  by  the  merit  or  demerit 
of  the  Ego  returning  to  physical  life.y/'Students  of 
heredity  generally  make  the  mistake  of  supposing  that 
ancestral  attributes  are  the  cause  of  characteristics 


42      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

reproduced  in  the  descendant.  The  descendant  has 
been  planted  in  that  family  because  bodily  heredity 
would  there  provide  it  with  a  physical  vehicle 
qualified  to  give  expression  to  its  own  inner  nature. 
And,  beyond  this,  because  the  circumstances  of  that 
life's  programme  fit  in  with  the  requirements  of 
absolute  justice  as  regards  the  claims  of  the  Ego 
for  happiness  or  its  deserts  as  regards  trouble.  The 
infinite  skill  of  the  Divine  Power  regulating  the  details 
of  each  rebirth  blends  the  intellectual  or  artistic 
necessities  of  the  Ego  with  a  worldly  environment 
appropriate  to  its  moral  condition,  its  good  or  bad 
"  Karma,"  as  the  case  may  be.^The  working  of  this 
law  is  intensely  interesting  and  marvellously  intricate. 
The  consequences  of  good  or  bad  action  in  one  life 
partly  reflect  themselves,  to  begin  the  explanation, 
in  happiness  or  the  reverse  during  the  astral  life. 
But  that  is  only  the  first  part  of  the  story.  A  funda- 
mental law,  equivalent,  on  higher  levels  of  nature, 
to  the  conservation  of  energy  in  mechanics,  asserts 
itself  with  every  entity  coming  back  to  incarnation  in 
the  earth  life.  Moral  action,  good  or  bad,  must  bear 
consequences  from  life  to  life.  The  external  con- 
ditions, the  happiness  or  the  reverse  of  each  life 
are  the  expression  of  forces  set  in  activity  during  the 
previous  life,  or  sometimes  going  back  behind  that, 
during  previous  lives.  And,  again,  though  the}' 
cannot  controvert  that  law,  aspiratio]^«  in  any  given 
life,  when  sustained  and  intense, ^fe  an  important 
factor  in  generating  the  environment  of  the  next. 
To  work  with  the  simplest  example,  a  person  in  a 
humble  rank  of  life  may  be  wishing  all  the  time  that 
he  or  she  belonged  to  a  superior  class.  The  longing 
would  have  no  effectit  it  were  too  vague.  A  carpenter 
thinking  he  woirrd  like  to  be  a  king  does  not  know 
enough  about  the  kingly  life  to  long  for  it  with  pre- 
cision.    But  he  knows  a  good  deal  about  the  con- 


Future  Life — and  Lives  43 

ditions  of  social  life  just  a  little  above  his  own.  He 
may  or  may  not  long  for  these,  according  to  the 
measure  of  his  contentment  in  his  own  station,  but 
if  he  does  long  for  them  he  does  so  with  precision, 
with  exact  comprehension  of  what  he  wants,  and  then 
such  longing  becomes  a  natural  force  tending  to  colour 
his  next  incarnation.  And  the  principle  reallj' 
operates  so  widely  as  to  bring  about  a  gradual  upward 
drift  in  social  station  of  the  innumerable  Egos 
emerging  from  the  humble  levels  of  existence.  Of 
course  that  is  merely  a  broad  rule  subject  to  frequent 
exceptions.  ,  Sometimes  the  Karma  of  a  life  spent 
on  high  levels  may  necessitate  a  plunge  to  lower, 
but  normally  the  aspirations  of  our  life  do  contribute 
to  engender  the  environment  of  the  next. 

Thus  in  thinking  of  future  Life  and  lives  we  have  to  i* 
recognize  the  two-fold  character  of  the  consequence 
ensuing  from  the  manner  in  which  each  life  is  spent. 
That  definitely  affects  both  the  immediate  future  and 
the  ultimate  future;  more  specifically  it  colours  hfe 
on  the  astral  plane  after  the  death  of  one  body,  and 
determines  the  welfare  or  suffering  of  the  next  in- 
carnation. For  people  who  have  led  fairly  creditable 
lives  the  astral  period  is  happy  and  restful,  often 
associated  with  opportunities  of  doing  useful' work. 
Even  when  the  previous  life  has  been  faulty  in  some 
respects,  it  may  be  that  such  misdoing  has  been  of  a 
kind  so  exclusively,  identified  with  physical  life 
that  it  can  only  give  rise  to  consequences  on  this 
plane  again  in  the  next  earth  life.  But  when  the 
misdirection  of  activity  has  been  of  a  kind  that 
deeply  colours  the  surviving  consciousness  of  the  Ego, 
it  may  entangle  him,  when  first  passing  on,  in  the 
third  level  of  the  astral  world.  That  is  a  region  of 
varied  discomfort  in  which  people  have  to  realize  the 
nature  of  their  misdoing  and  shed  the  desires  that 
have  given  rise  to  it.     In  bad  cases  that  are  not  of  the 


44      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

supremely  bad  order,  the  purification  may  be  rather 
a  slow  process,  but  assuming  that  the  character  of  the 
person  going  through  it  is  tainted  merely — not  pre- 
dominantly evil — the  ultimate  passage  to  the  happy 
levels  already  (very  imperfectly)  described  is  assured, 
not  merely  in  the  long  run,  but  very  likely  in  a  short 
one. 

In  awfully  serious  cases  the  course  of  astral  life  is 
very  different.  /  There  is  one  variety  of  human  \vicked- 
ness  that  is  altogether  in  a  different  category  from 
those  that  are  mere  vices.  The  sinful  character  of 
these — the  mere  vices — is  often  exaggerated;  but 
cruelty,  that  worst  and  horrible  form  of  cruelty 
which  takes  actual  pleasure  in  the  infliction  of  and 
sight  of  pain  and  suffering  in  others,  is  an  attribute 
that  drives  the  authors  of  such  hideous  misdoing 
down  into  that  appalling  submerged  level  of  the 
astral  world  with  which  most  of  those  even  in  need  of 
purification  have  nothing  whatever  to  do.  Even  that 
region  must  be  thought  of  as  purgatorial.  Its  fearful 
experiences  may  at  last  cure  or  begin  the  cure  of  the 
most  ghastly  offenders  against  the  Divine  law  of  love 
(of  which  cruelty  is  the  exact  reverse).  But  imagina- 
tion shrinks  from  the  attempt  to  realize  the  details  of 
the  sufferings  incidental  to  existence  on  the  terrible 
submerged  level.  Their  duration,  in  the  worst  cases, 
may  be  counted  in  centuries  of  our  time.  In  others,  a 
brief  experience  of  this  character  may  give  rise  to  the 
needful  revulsion  of  feeling.  But  though  it  would 
be  unwise  to  attempt  a  survey  of  the  astral  world 
without  taking  cognizance  of  its  lower  depths,  it  would 
be  worse  than  unwise  to  refer  to  them  in  any  way  that 
could  excite  fear  on  the  part  of  harmless,  innocent 
people,  too  prone,  as  a  consequence  of  clumsy  religious 
teaching,  to  imagine  themselves  "  miserable  sinners." 
Talk  of  that  kind  is  for  the  most  part  silly  nonsense, 
culminating  in  something  much  worse  when  associated 


Future  Life — and  Lives  45 

with  ghastly  imaginings  concerning  eternal  suiferings 
in  hell.  No  decorous  language  is  equal  to  the 
emergency  in  dealing  with  the  criminal  folly  of  those 
who  terrify  children  and  insult  God  by  describing 
burning  tortures  to  be  inflicted  for  ever  on  hapless 
victims  of  Providential  atrocities.  Nature  does  pro- 
vide a  penitential  reformatory  for  souls  of  diabolical 
criminality,  but  even  there  reformation  is  the  purpose 
in  view.  It  need  only  be  thought  of  as  completing  the 
broad  conception  of  after-death  conditions  that  modern 
research  in  spiritual  science  enables  us  to  form.  For 
the  poor  innocent  "  miserable  sinners  "  of  the  churches, 
the  view  we  are  now  in  a  position  to  obtain  of  happy 
life  on  the  higher  levels  of  the  astral  world  is  that  with 
which  they  are  personally  concerned.  But  that  view 
even  is  in  need  of  amplification.  The  merely  happy 
restful  life  to  which  people  of  ordinarily  good  life  may 
confidently  look  forward  is  not  the  only  possibility 
that  the  astral  world  holds  out.  To  understand  the 
design  of  the  future  correctly,  we  must  realize  first 
of  all  that  the  whole  scheme  of  evolution  provides 
for  a  gradual  progress,  through  many  earth  lives  and 
many  episodes  on  higher  planes,  towards  a  condition 
enormously  superior  to  that  yet  attained  by  the  most 
advanced  representatives  of  current  civilization  on 
earth.  By  most  of  the  human  family  such  conditions 
will  ultimately  be  attained  after  periods  of  time  that 
are  bewildering  to  the  imagination.  But  when  the 
distant  possibilities  of  human  evolution  are  fairly 
well  comprehended  in  advance,  in  the  light  of  such 
teaching  as  occult  research  (and  modern  revelation) 
enables  us  now  to  deal  with,  we  see  that  it  is  possible 
for  those  who  appreciate  the  opportunities  available 
to  make  a  much  more  rapid  progress  than  is  provided 
for  by  the  natural  drift  of  events  in  reference  to  the 
multitude.  Some  members  of  the  human  family  have 
been  able  to  accomplish  this  long  ages  ago,  and  already 


46      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

stand  on  levels  of  progress  on  which  they  become  agents 
of  Divine  purpose  in  promoting  the  spiritual  growth 
of  mankind.  These  are  referred  to  in  occult  literature 
as  the  Masters  of  Wisdom,  and  they  are  always  ready 
to  help  forward  the  abnormal  progress  of  people 
who  have  acquired  some  comprehension  of  their 
place  in  Nature,  and  are  filled  with  eagerness  to  get 
on  as  rapidly  as  possible  in  the  direction  of  those  great 
heights.  The  earth  life  is  the  opportunity  for  be- 
ginning such  efforts.  In  this  supremely  important 
aspect  of  the  subject,  as  in  minor  matters,  the  earth 
life  is  the  period  for  sowing  all  spiritual  seed.  The 
astral  life  is  the  period  in  which  it  begins  to  bear 
fruit.  A  perfectly  commonplace  earth  life,  however 
harmless  and  innocent,  bears  appropriate  fruit  in  the 
astral  world  in  the  shape  of  happiness  and  rest.  An 
aspiration  during  earth  life  towards  real  spiritual 
growth,  coloured  by  such  knowledge  as  is  now 
available  for  all,  bears  frtiit  in  the  shape  of  personal 
touch  with  those  Masters  of  Wisdom  who  may  guide 
the  aspirant  to  incarnations  in  which  he  may 
accomplish  results  the  dignity  and  grandeur  of  which 
cannot  easily  be  exaggerated.  Something  beyond 
mere  personal  happiness  is  then  seen  to  be  the  object 
of  attainment.  This  world  is  the  expression  of  Divine 
Will:  it  is  governed  by  Divine  Law,  but  it  is,  so  to 
speak,  managed  in  detail  by  the  agents  of  Divine  Will 
evolved  from  the  scheme  itself.  To  become  a  part 
of,  to  be  identified  with  that  sublime  agency,  is 
the  goal  aimed  at  by  those  who  fully  realize  the  true 
meaning  of  spiritual  growth.  That  such  a  condition 
involves  a  species  of  exalted  beatitude  which  is  some- 
thing greater  than  and  beyond  personal  happiness  is 
a  thought  that  may  fairly  be  associated  with  true 
spiritual  aspiration,  but  one  that  does  not  cover  the 
whole  idea,  too  subtle  perhaps  for  clear  definition  in 
language,  though  some  trace  of  it  should  always  colour. 


Future  Life — and  Lives  47 

for  advanced  thinkers,  all  reference  to  the  changes 
inaugurated  by  each  physical  death.  When  the  grave 
swallows  any  particular  vehicle  of  consciousness  that 
we  have  done  with,  it  certainly  marks  an  important 
stage  of  our  progress  through  the  infinitudes  of  life, 
and  represents  a  very  tiresome  circumstance  connected 
with  this  early  period  of  human  evolution ;  but  only 
while  we  are  suffering  from  the  sad  imperfections"  of 
conventional  teaching  is  the  grave  surrounded  with 
terror. 

The  purpose  of  this  article  has  not  been  merely 
to  dissipate  that  terror,  but  to  elucidate,  for  those 
who  may  long  since  have  ceased  to  feel  it,  the  detailed 
circumstances  of  the  passage  to  the  life  beyond; 
and  above  all,  to  show  how  the  all-important  principle  ^ 
of  reincarnation  does  not  in  any  way  conflict  with 
natural  aspirations  for  spiritual  existence  after  bodily 
death.  Reincarnation  is  no  hurried  process..  There 
is  plenty  of  time  m  Eternity.  Does  anyone  imagine 
that  a  thousand  year^  of  spiritual  life  after  the  fatigues 
of  this  one  will  not  bs  enough  for  him  ?  If  he  con- 
tinues hereafter  to  ent^tain  that  view,  then  he  will 
have  more.  Or  if  he  has^jio  such  far-reaching  aspira- 
tion, and  finds  himself  x:ontent  with  the  simple 
enjoyment  of  the  astral  life 'on  its  less  exalted  levels, 
he  will  fall  asleep  and  drift  back  to  physical  life  in 
obedience  to  natural  law  at  the  appropriate  time. 
And  both  in  his  case  and  in  that  of  his  more  advanced 
contemporaries,  the  return  to  physical  life  will  be 
accomplished  as  easily  as  the  processes  of  sleep  and 
waking  during  physical  life,  with  the  iiiner  mechanism 
of  which,  for  that  matter,  most  people'are  no  better 
acquainted  than  with  the  method  of  rebirth,  the 
fullest  acquaintance  with  which  carries  with  it  the 
most  complete  acquiescence  in  the  wisdom,  beauty, 
and  harmony  of  the  whole  design. 


RELIGION  UNDER  REPAIR 

On  the  14th  of  April,  191 7,  The  Times  published 
an  article  entitled  "  Sheep  without  a  Shepherd," 
which,  gently  and  without  bitterness  but  in  un- 
equivocal terms,  described  the  conventional  religion 
of  the  Churches  and  all  their  creeds  as  hopelessly 
out  of  date.  Thinking  men  and  women  were 
represented  as  convinced  that  religion  must  be 
rediscovered  from  the  beginning.  The  clergyman 
and  his  religion  "  belong  to  a  dead  past."  Thinking 
people  "  turn  away  from  the  Churches  more  and  more 
as  their  interest  in  religion  grows."  What  they  need 
is  "  a  conception  of  the  Universe  in  which  they  may 
take  their  place."  They  believe  in  Christianity  but 
they  need  an  expression  of  it  that  will  satisfy  intelli- 
gence. "  The  time  of  cleansing  for  the  Christian 
theology  has  been  delayed  so  long  that  there  is  a 
danger  lest  the  mass  of  men  should  think  it  all  litter 
and  dust  of  the  past."  The  Churches  have  fancied 
that  the  danger  would  be  staved  off  "by  the  slow, 
reluctant  relinquishing  of  this  or  that  belief  as  it 
became  impossible."  The  real  need  is  for  discovery 
and  growth.  The  Church  "  must  not  be  content  any 
longer  to  talk  pious  nonsense  in  the  hope  that  it  will 
seem  sense  because  it  is  pious." 

One  might  have  supposed  that  so  sweeping  an 
indictment  as  this,  directed  against  vested  interests 
firmly  rooted  in  social  life,  would  have  provoked 
a  storm  of  criticism  and  a  flood  of  sympathetic 
reiteration.  Has  orthodoxy  preferred  silence  as  on 
the  whole  safer  than   defence  that  would   provoke 

48 


Religion  under  Repair  49 

fresh  attack  ?  If  so,  the  fear  is  misdirected,  because 
it  is  based  on  a  misunderstanding  of  the  attack. 
The  clergyman  accused  of  talking  pious  nonsense 
thinks  the  accuser  an  atheist  denying  God.  The 
accuser  is  simply  indignant  with  the  clergyman  for 
caricaturing  God.  There  would  still  be  a  place  for 
that  clergyman  among  us  if  he  could  be  taught  to 
reverence  God  wisely.  Has  that  attitude  of  wise 
reverence  been-aftained  by  any  of  the  earnest  thinkers 
discontented  with  the  clergyman's  teaching  ?  Has 
discovery  really  anticipated  the  demand  for  it  set 
forth  in  the  article  quoted  ?  Are  there  answers 
available  for  people  who  "  ask  real  questions  about 
the  nature  of  the  Universe,"  and  may  there  not  be 
already  a  considerable  number  of  others  who  have 
profited  during  the  last  thirty  years  from  wide 
publicity  given  to  super-physical  knowledge  at  one 
time  reserved  for  a  peculiarly  qualified  few  ? 

The  true  answer  to  that  last  question  is  in  the 
affirmative,  and  those  who  have  been  concerned 
during  recent  years  with  the  assimilation  of  ideas 
reflected  in  the  Higher  Occultism  believe  themselves, 
at  all  events,  in  possession  of  definite  knowedge  which 
meets  the  intellectual  craving  represented  by  The 
Times  article.  Many  books  convey  this  to  all  who 
care  to  read,  and  describe  the  sources  from  which  it  is 
derived.  For  some  of  us  who  are  students  of  occult 
science  and  philosophy  the  authors  of  the  teaching 
given  out  are  seen  to  have  extraordinary  claims  on  our 
trust.  The  nature  of  these  claims  can  better  be 
appreciated  after  we  have  fairly  considered  the 
general  outline  of  the  teaching  they  convey.  It 
constitutes  a  complete  response  to  the  demand 
set  forth  in  The  Times  article.  It  does  give  us  a 
comprehensive  view  of  the  Cosmos  to  which  we  belong. 
It  embodies  a  revelation  which  is,  for  the  world  at 
large,  a  "  discovery,"  of  previously  unsuspected  truth 

4 


50      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

concerning  the  fundamental  facts  of  spiritual  silence 
underlying  all  forms  of  religion.  It  does  much  more 
than  this  because  it  gives  us  a  perfectly  clear  view 
of  the  course  of  human  evolution,  dissipating  all  the 
darkness  that  surrounds  death;  lighting  up  the 
conditions  of  the  new  life  that  immediately  follows 
the  change  and  pointing  out  the  path  to  be  ultimately 
trodden,  leading  to  infinitudes  of  progress.  The  view 
of  Divinity,  Life  and  Nature  thus  afforded — con- 
veniently to  be  described  as  the  Higher  Occultism — 
makes  its  first  claim  on  respectful  consideration  by 
its  own  inherent  reasonableness .  1 1  is  vast  in  its  scope , 
widely  ramifying  in  all  directions,  but  perfectly  co- 
herent, scientifically  harmonious;  all  parts  of  the 
whole  mutually  supporting  each  other.  In  one  way, 
that  is  a  difficulty  for  the  beginner  approaching  the 
study  of  the  Higher  Occultism.  [  The  comprehension 
of — not  necessarily  the  whole  because  the  whole  is 
an  infinitude — but  of  a  great  volume  of  super-physical 
knowledge  is  essential  to  an  adequate  appreciation  of 
its  parts  separately.  But  eventually  when  enough  is 
grasped,  conviction  sets  in  as  an  intellectual  necessity, 
and  then,  among  other  conclusions,  the  honest 
i  student  realizes  that  the  Higher  Occultism  has  been 
'  a  gift  to  the  world  from  Teachers  who  are  obviously 
entitled  to  profound  trust.     But  his  perception  of  this 

/  is  no  longer  needed  as  a  guarantee  of  the  teaching. 

I   It  embodies  its  own  confirmation. 

^  Perhaps  this  can  only  be  fully  appreciated  after  a 
more  exhaustive  study  of  super-physical  science  than 
can  be  provided  for  within  the  limits  of  a  Review 
article;  but  a  mere  outline  sketch  of  the  knowledge 
accumulating  on  our  hands  will  go  far  towards 
justifying  the  claim  made  above.  Indeed,  the  most 
elaborate  attempt  to  deal  with  detail  would  still  leave 
us  gazing  at  remote  horizons  beyond  which  human 
vision  cannot  penetrate,  but  that  is  by  itself  a  con- 


Religion  under  Repair  51 

dition  which  tends  to  fortify  belief  in  what  can  be 
seen.     No   theory   which   invested   Eternity   with   a 
beginning  and  an  end  could  be  otherwise  than  absurd. 
But   while  the  idea  of    God,   Divinity,   the   Divine 
principle — whatever  phrase  we  prefer — expands  into 
regions  beyond  the  reach  of  understanding,  we  do 
find  that  in  so  far  as  this  world  is  concerned — in  so  far, 
indeed,  as  the  Solar  System  is  concerned — Occultism 
presents   us   with   an  intelligible  conception  of  the 
Divine  Hierarchy;  also,  as  already  affirmed,  clearly 
illuminating    the    mysteries    of    human    origin    and 
destiny,  the  course  and  conditions  of  evolution,  and 
the  manner  in  which  Divine  justice  can  be  reconciled 
with  the  terrible  irregularities  of  life  in  the  physical 
world.     It  puts  us  in  a  position  of  intimate  familiarity 
with  the  life  on  super-physical  worlds  surrounding  our 
globe  to  which  all  pass  after  the  change  described  as 
death.     It  enlarges  our  view  of  human  destiny,  to 
that  extent  that  we  see  life  on  other  planets  linked 
with  that  of  the  Earth ;  and  the  whole  Solar  System 
resolves  itself  into  a  definite  Divine  enterprise,  with 
an  origin  and  purpose  vaguely  appreciable,  though  in 
touch  with  mysteries  of  infinitude  and  eternity  which 
we  need  not,  at  this  stage  of  our  progress,  attempt 
to  fathom.     Incidentally  occult  science  forecasts  the 
future    progress    in    various    directions    of   physical 
science,  and  in  some  cases  those  forecasts,  made  ten 
or  fifteen  years  ago,  have  already  been  overtaken  by 
practical  research.    The  proof  of  that  last  statement 
would   involve  a   long   digression,   but   is   definitely 
available,  as  many  of  the  conclusions  arising  from  the 
discovery  of  radium  were  clearly  set  forth  iii  a  book 
entitled  Occult  Chemistry  published  many  years  before 
Madame    Curie's    luminous    contribution    to    plain 
physical  science.     Indeed  laboratory  research  has  as-^. 
yet  only  partly  overtaken  the  occult  discoveries  though    ^ 
confirming  them  as  far  as  it  has  gone. 


52      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

The  claims  for  occult  science  just  set  forth  may  be 
examined  one  by  one.     It  does  not  shrink  from  the 
use  of  the  word  "  God  "  except  in  so  far  as  the  word 
has  been  degraded  by  ignoble  creeds.     But  Supreme 
Divinity  is  necessarily  infinite  and  must  have  reference 
to  manifestations  in  milhons  of  worlds  besides  our 
own.    And  yet  we  feel  sure  that  Divine  Consciousness 
permeates  this  world.     Occult  teaching  assures  us  that 
our  own  individual  consciousness  is  a  Divine  emanation, 
though  limited  in  its  scope  and  range  of  power  by  the 
vehicle  or  sheath  in  which  it  is  working — for  the 
moment.     The  idea  is  susceptible  of  expansion.     All 
consciousness  is  a  Divine  emanation — that  working  in     ' 
animal   forms — in   vegetable   forms   even — also   that 
working  in  super-human  forms  on  planes  or  realms 
of  Nature  loftier  than  the  physical.     The  idea  at  once 
leads  to  an  appreciation  of  the  sublime  magnificence 
of  the   Divine   Hierarchy   intervening   between   our 
humanity    and    the    nearest    manifestation    of    the 
infinite  Divinity.     Reasonable  occultists  do  not  pre- 
sume to  formulate  a  rigid  conception  of  that  nearest 
manifestation,  but  they  know  that  the  Solar  System 
is  a  definite  enterprise  within  the  manifested  Universe 
and  therefore  that  in  some  way  it  can  be  identified 
with  a  vortex,  so  to  speak,  in  infinite  Divinity,  and     i 
that  is  generally  referred  to  as  the  Logos  of  the  Solar      \ 
System .    Words  are  not  well  adapted  to  such  thoughts ,      I 
but  we  must  be  content  to  use  the  best  we  have  got. 
The  simple  Christian  who  wants  to  discern  a  Father  in 
God  may  be  chilled  by  this  awfully  super-physical 
idea,  but  he  need  not  be  so  if  he  clings  to  his  faith  in 
Christ  which  the  occultist  has  no  wish  to   disturb. 
Medieval  creeds  which  the  Churches  perpetuate  have 
caricatured  the  Christ  idea,  amongst  others,  but  the 
occultist  clearly  understands  Christ  as  belonging  to  the 
Divine  Hierarchy,  in  close  touch  with  this  world,  and 
that    understanding    carries    with    it    a    reverential 


Religion  under  Repair  53 

feeling  that  no  conventional  Christian  can  possibly 
improve  upon.  Of  course  the  Hierarchy  of  Beings 
representing  various  stages  of  spiritual  evolution  and 
a  vast  variety  of  functions  in  Nature  include  subhme 
entities  on  all  imaginable  levels,  but  the  fundamental 
all-important  idea  to  be  held  firmly  in  thinking  of  the 
hierarchy  is  that  it  constitutes  the  Agency  through 
which  the  Divine  purpose  is  worked  out  in  manifesta- 
tion. This  is  one  way  in  which  a  scientific  com- 
plexion is  put  upon  occult  religion.  Agency  runs 
down  to  the  minutest  activities  of  Nature.  There  is 
no  break  in  the  uniformity  of  the  method .  Archangelic 
Beings  fulfil  the  Divine  purpose  on  their  levels. 
Elemental  beings  on  levels  of  consciousness  below  our 
comprehension  are  agents  in  promoting  the  growth 
of  plants,  or  carrying  out  the  laws  (the  Divine  purposes) 
of  chemical  affinity.  This  last  thought  relates  to  a 
huge  branch  of  occult  science  in  a  borderland  that 
physical  research  must  soon  invade. 

A  hierarchy  that  includes  Beings  of  the  Archangelic 
order  (and  also  others  of  still  loftier  spiritual  rank) 
together  with  humbler  agencies  below  the  level  of 
humanity,  concerned  with  the  working  of  natural  law, 
must  obviously  also  include  beings  but  relatively 
little  above  the  human  level.  And  this  thought 
illuminated  by  definite  information  brings  the  occul- 
tist into  touch  with  a  realm  of  knowledge  bearing 
equally  on  the  government  of  this  world  and  the 
possibilities  of  human  evolution.  There  is  a  level 
of  the  great  hierarchy  definitely  recruited  from 
humanity.  Common  conceptions  of  human  evolution 
have  correctly  hit  off  the  idea  that  it  is  recruited  itself 
from  lower  forms  of  life.  Prevailing  belief,  however, 
has  not  grasped  the  notion  that  it  expands  into  higher 
forms  without  any  break  of  continuity.  At  an  earlier 
period  in  the  world's  history  this  was  more  generally 
appreciated   than   it   has  been  in  recent  years.     In 


54      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

ancient  Egypt,  lor  example — though  the  five  or  six 
thousand  years^ beyond  which  modern  research  does 
not  extend  were  a  mere  decadent  remainder  as  com- 
pared with  still  earlier  Egyptian  civilizations — the 
people  generally  knew  that  some  few  hierophants 
had  risen  to  a  high  condition  of  knowledge  and  power 
as  compared  with  ordinary  humanityy^nDefinite  sys- 
tems of  initiation  were  known  to  lead  upward  towards 
those  heights.  Though  later  generations  have  lost 
sight  of  this  deeply  significant  truth,  it  is  still  as  true 
as  ever.  The  (relatively)  lower  levels  of  the  Divine 
Hierarchy  are  still  recruited  in  that  way.  For  recent 
ages  the  system  has  been  veiled  from  common 
obs  rvation.//^he  progress  of  humanity  is  worked 
out  in  accordfance  with  a  definite  Divine  plany  For  a 
time  it  was  necessary  that  intelligence  should  be 
trained  in  the  study  of  physical  nature .  The  improve- 
ment of  brain  capacity  was  the  task  before  the  incar- 
nate vanguard  of  humanity.  Super-physical  know- 
ledge, the  fascination  of  which  would  have  attracted 
the  pioneers  of  brain  culture  off  the  path  designed  for 
them,  was  hidden  away  for  a  time.  Those  men  of 
science  who  resent  the  movements  of  thought 
bringing  it  to  the  light  of  day  again  are  survivals  of 
the  regime  to  which  they  have  not  yet  ceased  to  belong 
— unconsciously  bearing  testimony,  amusing  to  the 
occultist,  to  the  accuracy  of  his  diagnosis. 

The  principle  just  hinted  at^ — that  human  evolution 
does  not  stop  short  at  the  stage  reached  by  the  most 
brilliant  representatives  of  current  civilization — 
leads  on  to  the  appreciation  of  the  idea  that  infinitude 
is  applicable  to  that  evolution,  as  to  the  loftier  con- 
ception of  Divine  nature.  The  idea  is  best  understood 
by  tracing  it  back  to  some  extent  into  the  past. 
Consciousness — which  eludes  research  in  the  dis- 
secting room — is,  in  a  certain  sense,  uniform  in  its 
nature;   incomprehensible  as  regards  its  essence,  but 


Religion  under  Repair  §^ 

vaguely  acceptable  as  somehow  of  Divine  origin. 
As  above  pointed  out,  its  scope  and  range  are  de- 
termined by  the  vehicle  or  sheath  in  which  it  is 
involved.  The  full  development  of  that  idea  puts 
a  new  face  upon  the  whole  theory  of  evolution.  In 
any  animal  form  we  like  to  think  of,  consciousness 
has  obviously  a  very  limited  scope  compared  with 
our  own.  The  splendid  light  Darwin  threw  on 
Nature  showed  us  the  growth  of  form,  following 
certain  physical  plane  impulses.  The  occultist  at 
first  only  found  fault  with  the  theory  as  ignoring 
the  simultaneous  evolution  of  consciousness.  A 
clearer  view  has  since  been  obtained.  In  the  lower 
animal  forms  consciousness  has  not  been  individual- 
ized. But  an  aggregate  volume  of  consciousness 
animating  many  lower  forms  gradually  feels  the  need 
of  animating  higher  ones.  Fully  developed,  the 
description  of  the  process  would  be  very  protracted. 
Eventually  in  the  highest  animal  forms  consciousness 
is  individualized  and  passes  under  well-understood 
conditions  into  the  human  form,  not  at  once  into  one 
of  high  development.  By  this  time,  however,  the 
individualized  consciousness  may  be  treated  as  an 
Ego  subject  to  the  law  of  reincarnation.  At  first  its 
progress  may  be  thought  of  as  the  growth  of  the  Ego 
— its  spiritual  growth  going  on  concurrently  with  the 
improvement  in  the  human  form  and  the  perfection 
of  the  brain .  But  how  is  this  view  to  be  reconciled  with 
the  theory  that  consciousness  is  identical  in  essence 
throughout  Nature  ?  Quite  easily,  for  all  who  profit 
by  what  is  known  concerning  the  laws  governing 
reincarnation.  Desire  is  one  of  them.  Desire  for  an 
improved  form  providing  improved  scope  for  con- 
sciousness would  be  distinctly  operative.  But  the 
man  at  a  humble  level  does  not  know  enough  to 
formulate  such  a  desire  explicitly.  He  does  it 
automatically  by  making  the  best  use  of  the  form — 


56      Collected  Fruits  ot  Occult  Teaching 

or  vehicle — he  has  got.  Natural  law  then  gives  him 
a  better  one  in  his  next  life  and  so  on  ad  infinitum. 

The  principle  properly  understood  accounts  for 
lofty  as  well  as  humble  progress  in  evolution.  The 
man  in  the  beginning  does  not  know  what  he  wants, 
but  gets  it  by  unconsciously  conforming  to  the  law. 
On  a  higher  level  he  obeys  it  consciously,  and  the  result 
is  the  same.  On  all  levels,  of  course  short  of  those 
that  are  verj''  exalted,  action  good  or  bad — Karma, 
to  use  the  technical  expression,  good  or  bad — hastens 
or  retards  the  result,  and  a  mere  recognition  of  the 
laws  concerning  reincarnation  and  Karma  goes  far 
to  explain  and  justify  the  conditions  of  the  world  as 
we  find  it — with  all  its  ghastly  irregularities  of  physical 
and  moral  welfare.  That  is  a  huge  branch  of  occult 
study  by  itself.  But  in  tracing  the  manner  in  which 
humanity  is  linked  with  the  Divine  Hierarchy  the 
occult  interpretation  of  the  minor  mysteries  of  current 
life  on  Earth  may  be  left  aside  for  the  moment. 

A  profoundly  significant  phrase,  borrowed,  I  believe, 
from  some  Oriental  scripture,  runs  as  follows :  "  What- 
ever is,  is,  has  been,  or  will  be  Human."  Those  few 
words  cover  the  whole  sweep  of  thought  concerning 
the  origin  and  destinies  of  Man,  the  meaning  of 
creation,  the  essence  of  all  religion.  Such  thought, 
of  course,  melts  into  the  incomprehensible  if  pushed 
backward  or  forward  into  the  infinitudes  of  Eternity, 
but  is  magnificently  full  of  suggestion.  That  it 
accounts  for  all  lower  forms  of  life  and  the  earlier 
conditions  of  this  world  is  relatively  uninteresting. 
It  accounts  for  the  Divine  Hierarchy.  That  upward 
growth  that  we  can  trace  from  lower  to  higher  forms 
of  human  life  is  nowhere  arrested.  Occult  science  has 
shown  us  from  the  first  that  living  forms  are  not 
built  merely  of  physical  matter.  During  this  familiar 
earth-life,  even  fairly  advanced  representatives  of 
humanity  are  capable  of  passing  from  time  to  time 


Religion  under  Repair  ^j 

into  vehicles  of  consciousness  built  of  finer  orders 
of  matter  than  those  which  build  up  flesh  and  blood. 
The  full  development  of  that  subject  would  claim  a 
long  dissertation,  but  for  the  moment  the  important 
point  is  that,  though  physical  humanity  is  an  essential 
phase  through  which  differentiated  consciousness 
passes,  a  time  comes  when  physical  form  is  needed 
no  more,  and  progress  goes  on  without  any  break 
in  the  process  towards  conditions  of  being  that,  con- 
templated in  imagination  from  the  physical  plane 
level,  seem  to  represent  different  orders  of  creation. 
Beings  on  that  level  are  simply  among  the  members 
of  the  Divine  Hierarchy  referred  to  by  the  words 
"  has  been  "  in  the  phrase  quoted  above. 

But  that  does  not  mean  that  they  have  been 
simply  human  at  any  period  in  the  history  of  this 
planet.  From  the  point  of  view  of  occult  science 
no  world  is  a  complete  undertaking  in  itself.  Life, 
the  infusion  of  Divine  consciousness  into  matter,  is  a 
vast  coherent  phenomenon  in  Nature,  limitless  in  all 
directions.  The  idea  may  be  approached  by  con- 
sidering its  bearing  on  the  Solar  System,  itself,  as  we 
are  enabled  now  to  realize,  a  coherent  scheme  of 
manifestation,  all  its  parts  inter-related  one  with 
another,  and  as  a  whole  inter-related  with  a  larger 
Cosmos. 

Common  astronomy  deals  with  the  magnitudes, 
distances,  and  movements  of  the  various  planets  con- 
stituting the  Solar  System,  and  to  some  extent  with 
their  relative  stages  of  development.  Jupiter,  for 
example,  is  obviously  a  world  in  an  eaily  stage  of  its 
growth,  because  it  is  still  hot — almost  incandescent. 
Occult  astronomy — which  might  be  called  Vital 
Astronomy — deals  with  the  life  going  on  in  each  planet, 
or  for  which  each  is  in  preparation.  In  most  cases 
each  planet  is  part  of  an  (apparently)  independent 
scheme  of  evolution.    Thus  the  planet  Venus  belongs 


58      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

to  a  senior  scheme  as  compared  with  that  which  the 
Earth  represents.  Human  life  there  has  already 
been  carried  to  stages  of  growth  enormously  in  advance 
of  the  stage  yet  reached  here.  But  there,  as  here, 
individual  growth  has  been  affected  by  the  play  of 
individual  Free  Will  (which  presents  no  mystery  to 
the  occultist),  and,  though  a  very  large  majority  of 
the  original  human  population  of  the  Venus  scheme 
have  attained  to  highly  exalted  conditions,  some  have 
dropped  off  in  the  course  of  bygone  ages,  the  Egos 
having  failed  to  attain  conditions  qualifying  them  to 
reincarnate  among  the  more  advanced  majority. 
Their  destiny  is  intensely  interesting,  as  illuminating 
the  economy  of  the  Solar  System  as  a  whole.  There 
is  no  final  perdition  for  the  failures  of  each  planetary 
scheme  in  turn.  They  pass  on  to  the  next  schemed^ 
The  failures  of  the  Senior  Venus  scheme  are  merged  m^ 
the  humanity  of  the  Earth  scheme.  The  further  details 
of  this  process  are  of  increasing  interest.  The  failures 
concerned,  though  left  behind  by  the  successful 
candidates  for  progress  on  Venus,  fell  off  from  their 
proper  human  family  at  a  later  stage  than  that 
generally  reached  so  far  by  the  foremost  races,  even, 
of  the  Earth  scheme.  So  the  present  conditions  of 
Earth  humanity  do  not  yet  afford  them  appropriate 
incarnation.  Nature  deals  with  the  difficulty  in  her 
usual  competent  fashion,  but  to  make  the  solution 
intelligible  the  conditions  of  our  own  planetary 
scheme  must  be  taken  into  account.  In  our  case 
three  planets  are  linked  together  in  one  compre- 
hensive evolution.  Of  course,  the  reason  of  this  is 
intelligible,  but  that  would  be  a  long  story  by  itself 
and  may  be  left  aside  for  the  moment.  Our  human 
family  is  at  present  distributed  over  three  worlds — 
Mars,  the  Earth,  and  Mercury.  Silly  criticism  based 
on  ignorance  may  fall  foul  of  this  statement  on  the 
ground  that  Mercury — so  near  the  Sun — must  be  too 


Religion  under  Repair  59 

hot  for  human  life.  Too  hot  certainly  for  bodies 
of  our  flesh  and  blood,  but  the  chemistry  of  Nature 
can  solve  more  intricate  problems  than  those  merely 
of  temperature.  Mercury  bodies  are  adapted  to- 
temperatures  in  which  our  own  could  not  exist. 

Now  the  main  body  of  our  human  family  is  here  on 
the  Earth,  but  an  inferior  remnant  at  a  very  low 
and  coarse  stage  of  development — the  dregs  of  our 
humanity,  so  to  speak — is  still  on  Mars.  A  vanguard 
of  peculiarly  advanced  Egos  is  already  on  Mercury, 
leading  a  more  beautiful  life  than  any  of  which  the 
Earth's  main  body  has  yet  had  experience.  That 
advanced  vanguard  supplies  the  Venus  failures  with 
suitable  opportunities  for  incarnation,  and  the  bulk 
of  the  Mercury  population  at  the  present  time  had  to 
begin  with  a  Venus  origin.  Of  course,  the  numbers 
are  not  great  compared  with  those  of  the  Earth — 
taking  those  to  include  Egos  in  and  out  of  incar- 
nation— in  physical  bodies,  that  is  to  say,  and  on  the 
higher  spheres  surrounding  the  physical  planet. 

The  importance  of  the  explanation  just  given  turns 
on  the  way  it  shows  the  whole  Solar  System  as  a 
coherent  organism,  for  obviously  the  system  now 
operative  as  between  the  senior  evolution  of  Venus 
and  the  next  in  order — our  own — will  go  on  providing 
for  the  evolution,  at  remote  periods  in  the  future,  of 
the  outer  planets,  Jupiter,  Saturn,  Uranus  and 
Neptune.  Circumstances  will  no  doubt  vary  in  these 
far-off  regions  of  the  stupendous  Divine  programme, 
but  the  leading  idea  establishes  the  unity  within 
diversity  of  the  plan  that  the  Solar  System  repre- 
sents. 

This  light  though  comprehensive  sketch  of  the 
Divine  plan  will  enable  the  reader  incidentally  to 
understand  how  the  students  of  occult  or  Vital 
Astronomy  obtain  their  information,  obviously  of 
a  kind  that  no  commonplace  physical  faculties  can 


6o      Collected  Fruits  or  Occult  Teaching 

possibly  deal  with.  We  see  human  evolutions  ex- 
tending upward,  without  any  break  of  continuity, 
to  the  nearest  levels  of  the  Divine  Hierarchy.  We 
realize  the  unbroken  continuity  of  consciousness 
beyond  those  levels,  so  that  knowledge  of  the  kind 
that  seems  at  the  first  glance  to  belong  to  Divinity 
itself  must  filter  down  to  the  lower  levels  of  the 
Divine  Hierarchy.  Then  we  begin  to  understand 
how  the  Beings  on  those  levels — ^in  touch  in  one 
direction  with  relatively  Infinite  Wisdom,  in  the  other 
with  ordinary  humanity — may  see  fit  to  pass  on  to 
some  qualified  pupils  in  ordinary  humanity  some 
information  illuminating  the  world  and  the  Cosmos 
to  which  that  ordinary  humanity  belongs.  Indeed, 
it  is  obvious  that  sooner  or  later  such  information 
must  be  passed  on,  to  provide  for  the  fulfilment  of  the 
Divine  Plan.  At  earlier  stages  of  growth  humanity 
was  not  in  need  of  all  this  lofty  teaching.  It  had 
to  accomplish  certain  achievements — now,  from  the 
higher  point  of  view,  essential  preliminary  under- 
takings. Humanity  had  to  learn  simple  broad 
principles  of  moral  science,  to  grapple  with  the  vague 
idea  that  there  was  some  Divine  mystery  pervading 
the  world.  The  religions  of  various  periods  met  this 
need  with  more  or  less  success.  It  did  not  much 
matter  at  first  that  they  were  irrational  in  their 
design.  In  days  of  one  early  papacy,  for  example, 
when  priests  disputed  as  to  whether  Christ  was  the 
real  son,  or  an  adopted  son,  of  God,  religious  intelligence 
was  not  ripe  for  more  suitable  discussion  concerning 
the  Divine  Hierarchy.  The  writer  of  the  article  on 
"  Sheep  without  a  Shepherd  "  seems  to  think  the 
Clergy  of  the  present  day  are  not  much  more  ready 
for  it.  However  this  may  be,  some  of  them  must 
be  ready,  and  outside  the  Church  a  sufficient  number 
have  been  found  ready,  to  justify  the  full  flow  of  the 
teaching  which  this  paper  partly  embodies.     Then, 


Religion  under   Repair  6i 

again,  for  the  last  thousand  years  or  so,  humanity 
has  been  getting  ready  for  higher  teaching  by  per- 
fecting its  thinking  capacity.  The  study  of  physical 
science  has  poHshed  human  brains  to  a  high  degree  of 
delicacy.  That  had  to  be  done  before  religion  could 
be  levelled  up.  Habits  of  scientific  thinking  have 
certainly  paved  the  way  for  appreciating  the  credi- 
bility of  occult  teaching,  better  than  the  mental 
training  of  the  theologian  plodding  in  the  path  of 
medieval  creeds.  A  considerable  number  of  people 
thus  prepared  are  ripe  for  superior  enlightenment — 
more  than  ripe:  definitely  craving  for  it.  It  has 
become  incumbent  on  the  custodians  of  the  superior 
knowledge  to  give  out  that  knowledge  far  more  freely 
than  was  necessary  or  desirable  in  the  past.  Only 
as  we  become  possessed  of  the  knowledge  can  we 
appreciate  the  obligation.  The  further  growth  of 
humanity  towards  higher  conditions  of  being  can  only 
be  accomplished  by  a  humanity  comprehending  its 
purpose  and  potential  destinies.  That  level  of  the 
Divine  Hierarchy  nearest  to  and  immediately  above 
ordinary  humanity  has  to  watch  over,  guide,  and 
promote  the  spiritual  growth  of  that  ordinary 
humanity.  As  those  ready  for  new  conditions 
become  more  and  more  numerous,  the  work  of  those 
who  link  humanity  with  the  hierarchy  becomes  more 
and  more  important  and  exacting.  The  occult 
student  generally  refers  to  those  who  are  the  links  in 
question  as  the  Masters  of  Wisdom.  The  title  will 
serve  for  the  moment,  though  we  may  eventually  adopt 
a  better.  Whatever  name  we  use,  they  are  the 
immediate  agents  of  Divinity  in  carrying  out  the 
design  in  which  this  world  and  its  inhabitants  play 
a  part,  and,  as  time  goes  on,  and  they  have  more 
and  more  to  do  in  a  world  ripening  by  degrees, 
their  numbers  must  be  recruited.  That  can  only  be 
done  as  the  more  advanced  claimants   for  spiritual 


62      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

enlightenment  are  mentally  and  morally  cultivated. 
The  evolution  of  a  humanity,  in  fact,  is  analogous  to 
that  of  a  single  entity.  In  childhood  his  growth, 
well-being  and  education  depend  on  others.  Teaching 
gradually  enables  him  to  realize  that  his  own  will 
and  effort  must  be  brought  into  play  to  accomplish 
growth  beyond  a  certain  stage.  His  later  development 
must  depend  upon  himself.  So  with  humanity  at 
large.  The  evolutionary  law  works  under  loftier 
guidance  for  a  time;  but  the  race  cannot  improve 
beyond  a  certain  stage  without  understanding  its  place 
in  Nature,  without  reahzing  the  sublime  truth  that 
it  must  for  its  later  development  guide  its  own 
evolution,  govern  itself. 

We  are  now  at  an  important  turning-point  in  the 
World's  "history,  even  as  the  situation  might  be 
considered  without  reference  to  the  enormously 
significant  fact  that  the  super^pliysical  Powers  of 
Good  and  Evil  are  engaged  in  the  fiercest  struggle  for 
supremacy  that  has  ever  been  waged  in  the  whole 
history  of  t'fie  Solar  System.  The  issue  of  that 
struggle  is  not  in  doubt.  Beyond  the  horrors  of  the 
final  crisis  there  stretches  the  assured  vision  of  a 
beautiful  future,  but  its  beauty  will  be  partly  due  to 
the  continual  expansion  of  the  knowledge  which 
has  been  gradually  pouring  into  our  hands  during  the 
last  thirty-odd  years,  the  ever-growing  appreciation 
of  which  is  no  less  certain  than  the  ultimate  defeat 
of  the  Satanic  power  hitherto  directed,  among  other 
purposes,  to  stifle  and  impede  its  dissemination. 
That  defeat  accomplished,  the  World's  progress  along 
desirable  paths  will  proceed  with  a  rapidity  for  which 
no  previous  experience  has  prepared  us,  and  the 
influence  of  that  comprehensive  view  of  Nature  and 
Divine  truth  that  has  hitherto  been  "  occult " — 
veiled  or  partially  obscured — will  permeate  religious 
thinking  and  soon  lead  to  a  reconstruction  even  of  the 


Religion  under  Repair  63 

orthodox  clerical  presentation  thereof,  so  that  there 
will  no  longer  be  any  inclination  to  regard  that  as 
"  litter  and  dust  of  the  past."  The  unseen  laws 
governing  the  world  and  human  evolution,  the  con- 
scious agencies  through  which  they  are  administered, 
the  higher  realms  of  life  intimately  associated  with 
the  physical  life  on  the  Earth's  surface,  will  all  come 
within  the  range  of  human  understanding  in  a  near 
future  and  will  bring  about  such  a  blend  between 
science  and  religion,  that  each  will  be  regarded  as  the 
complement  of  the  other — the  piety  of  the  Church 
no  longer  nonsense  in  the  sight  of  Science,  and  the 
critical  insight  of  Science  no  longer  a  terror  for  a 
Church  which  will  lean  on  it  for  support. 


RELIGION    UNDER    REPAIR:     A    REPLY    TO 
PROFESSOR  LINDSAY 

Endeavouring  to  frame  a  crushing  "  rejoinder  "  to 
my  attempt  to  show  that  conventional  religion  is 
badly  in  need  of  repair,  Professor  Lindsay,  writing 
in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  provided  his  readers  with 
so  fair  a  summary  of  its  contents  that  he  is  en- 
titled to  my  thanks  for  bringing  these  afresh  to 
the  notice  of  any  among  them  who  may  have  over- 
looked their  first  presentation.  But  in  failing  to 
appreciate  their  importance  he  shows  clearly  how 
minds  untrained  in  the  study  of  Nature's  super- 
physical  mysteries  are  embarrassed  with  prepos- 
sessions partly  derived  from  medieval  theology  and 
partly  from  materialistic  habits  of  thought  prevalent 
in  the  last  century.  Current  thinking  meanwhile 
has  been  deeply  coloured  by  the  recognition  of  some 
capacities  of  human  consciousness  that  transcend  the 
physical  senses.  There  are  still  many  amongst  us 
who  resent  subtle  discoveries  outrunning  their  own 
experience. j|f\Vhat  they  can't  understand  they  refuse 
to  beheve/^and  must  be  left  in  the  rear  of  mental 
progress.  But  for  those  who  do  not  protect  their 
opinions  by  carefully  guarding  their  ignorance,  some 
broad  convictions,  at  all  events,  are  gathering  strength., 
Foremost  among  these  is  the  certainty  that  there 
are  avenues  to  perception  over  and  above  those  pro- 
vided by  the  physical  senses.  If  anyone  now  denies 
the  possibility  of  clairvoyance,  he  does  not  express  an 
opinion ;  he  merely  shows  himself  unacquainted  with 
certain  developments  of  scientific  research.  Again, 
while  crowds  of  blatant  assailants  abuse  the  multitudes 

^4     . 


Religion  under  Repair  :    A   Reply         65 

who  know  that  they  have  touch  with  conditions  of 
human  Hfe  following  on  the  change  called  death,  dis- 
belief in  that  matter  where  it  exists  is  merely  due  to 
ignorance  of  the  work  done  in  that  department  of 
research.  Those  who  challenge  either  of  the  state- 
ments just  made  are  not  entitled  to  attack  a  writer 
who  takes  them  for  granted.  The  literature  deahng 
with  them  is  abundant.  No  one  addressing  intelligent 
hearers  concerning  any  fresh  development  of  super- 
physical  research  can  be  fairly  called  on  to  waste  his 
time  in  going  afresh  over  the  rudimentary  discoveries 
of  fifty  years  ago.  A  modern  chemist,  writing  about 
the  atomic  weight  of  thorium-lead,  does  not  include 
in  his  essay  an  elaborate  argument  to  show  that  the 
measurement  of  atomic  weight  is  possible. 

The  stream  of  criticism  Professor  Lindsay  directs 
against  my  exposition  of  lately  expanded  teaching 
concerning  human  and  super-human  evolution  may 
be  partly  summed  up  in  the  question  "  How  do  you 
know  ?"  expressed  in  various  phrases,  few  of  which 
offend  good  taste  in  their  form.  But  the  answer  is 
embodied  in  the  various  books  I  have  written  in  the 
last  thirty-odd  years,  and  I  do  not  want  to  go  over 
all  that  ground  again.  I  will  summarize  it  briefly, 
recognizing  this  as  by  far  the  most  important  question 
that  can  be  put  by  anyone  meeting  with  the  later 
results  of  occult  research  before  having  grown 
familiar  with  the  earlier  achievements  of  that  great 
undertaking.  But  in  the  first  instance  I  am  tempted 
to  deal  with  some  amusing  objections  levelled  by  the 
Professor  against  various  "  assumptions  "  I  have 
ventured  to  put  forward  as  in  no  need  of  elaborate 
proof. 

My  remark  that  occult  research  anticipated  many 
of  the  "  conclusions  arising  from  the  discovery  of 
radium  "is  twisted  into  a  statement  that  it  anticipated 
the  discovery  of  radium,  and  treated  with  sarcasm 

5 


66      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

accordingly.  The  fact,  as  I  stated  it,  is  simply 
indisputable  to  anyone  who  will  take  the  trouble  to 
read  the  book  I  referred  to.  Occult  Chemistry,  and 
observe  the  date  of  its  publication.  It  is  obviously 
impossible  to  repeat  the  contents  of  that  book  here. 
It  will  be  found  deeply  significant  for  all  persons 
interested  in  chemical  science. 

Pantheism  !  There  is  some  resemblance  between 
the  true  doctrine  and  the  speculation  going  by  that 
name,  just  as  there  is  some  resemblance  between 
metempsychosis  and  reincarnation,  but  also  all  the 
difference  that  there  is  between  a  lump  of  gold-bearing 
quartz  and  a  finished  gold  coin.  Spinoza's  pantheism 
absorbed  God  in  Nature  and  left  no  God  behind. 
Occult  pantheism  recognizes  Nature  as  an  emanation 
of  God,  but  also  recognizes  the  infinite,  supreme, 
Divine  incomprehensible  Being  of  omnipotent  con- 
sciousness which  is  God,  as  losing  nothing  by  its 
infusion  into  matter.  Thus  occult  pantheism  includes 
Deism  while  clearing  that  conception  of  its  limitations. 
It  is  true  that  almost  all  the  finished  mental  products 
of  modern  occult  research  have  been  crudely  antici- 
pated in  a  great  many  early  philosophies  and  scrip- 
tures. The  splendour  of  their  modern  presentation 
is  due  to  the  extraction  of  the  interior  truth  from  the 
rough  ore — its  re-statement  in  terms  of  Western 
scientific  thinking.  That  is  the  answer  to  the  objec- 
tion that  my  "  theory  is  as  old  as  Gnosticism,"  and 
to  the  somewhat  inane  charge  that  "  my  pretensions 
to  unfold  a  new  and  satisfying  cosmic  world-view  are 
simply  ridiculous."  That  which  is  ridiculous  is  the 
suggestion  that  in  its  present  form — with  modern 
scientific  precision  and  detail — it  can  be  found  either 
in  Gnostic  writings,  or  even  in  Sanscrit  Upanishads — 
with  which  by  the  way  our  Professor  may  not  be 
intimatelj'"  acquainted  as  he  refers  vaguely  to 
"  Hindoo     philosophy."      That     phrase     might     be 


Religion  under  Repair  :    A  Reply        67 

paralleled  by  a  Hindoo  who  should  refer  to  "  the 
European  language  "  as  though  there  were  only  one. 
It  may  be  in  a  certain  sense  true  that  "  there  is 
nothing  new  under  the  Sun,"  but  as  time  goes  on  old 
ideas  get  sometimes  so  embellished  by  advancing 
knowledge  that  they  seem  the  product  of  a  new 
revelation .  That  is  emphatically  true  of  the  cosmology 
developed  now  by  students  of  what — for  want  of  any 
better  term — I  have  called  the  Higher  Occultism. 

Reincarnation  !  Our  Professor  thinks  it  "  has 
never  found  favour  in  the  West."  I  think  it  is 
commanding  the  assent  of  all  intelligent  people — 
whenever  it  is  understood.  Unhappily  it  is  very 
widely  misunderstood — as  by  our  Professor,  obviously, 
when  he  describes  it  as  a  paralyzing  doctrine  of  which 
fatalism  is  the  natural  outcome.  The  natural  outcome 
is  exactly  the  reverse,  because  it  shows  each  life  in  turn 
the  expression  of  causes  set  in  motion  by  the  free-will 
of  the  Ego  in  former  lives.  Again,  complete  ex- 
planation of  the  real  doctrine  would  claim,  very  many 
of  these  pages.  That  doctrine  is  fairly  set  forth  in 
my  own  published  uTitings,  but  I  do  not  feel  entitled 
to  advertise  them  here.  If  anyone  thinks,  along 
necessitarian  lines,  that  acts  in  each  life  are  inevitable, 
and  therefore,  as  causes,  encouraging  fatalism,  the 
answer  is,  firstly,  a  contradiction  of  the  assumption 
arising  from  our  knowledge  of  the  way  Karma  is 
adjusted  by  the  Elemental  agents  of  the  Lipika  ! 
I  use  technical  phraseology  for  the  moment,  to  hint 
that  in  deahng  with  the  Higher  Occultism  I  am 
skirting  the  confines  of  an  elaborate  science.  The 
words  used  above  will  have  a  definite  meaning  for 
every  Theosophical  student,  and  will,  I  venture  to 
think,  be  quite  destitute  of  meaning  for  the  Professor. 
Secondly,  the  reason  why  incarnation  provides  for 
intellectual  moral  and  spiritual  growth  and  expansion 
is  to  be  discerned  in  the  fact,  so  ill-understood  by  the 


68      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

materialistic  science  of  the  last  century,  that  Thought 
is  a  force.  Again,  that  is  a  statement  that  people 
ignorant  of  all  that  has  been  done  in  psychic  research 
during  the  last  quarter  of  the  last  century  will  not 
understand,  and,  therefore,  will  foolishly  deny.  The 
influence  of  thought  on  future  incarnations  has  been 
elaborately  traced  in  my  own  and  other  current  books. 
In  truth  it  determines  their  course.  And,  when 
understood,  reincarnation  becomes  not  only  acceptable 
but  the  only  thinkable  method  of  carrying  on  human 
evolution.  Some  people  are  frightened  of  it,  because 
they  foolishly  imagine  that  it  means  their  own 
individuality  and  consciousness  immersed  in  a  baby 
form,  and  miserable  in  such  a  condition.  Their 
consciousness  during  the  baby  period  will  be  on  a 
higher  plane  in  another  vehicle.  They  will  not  enter 
their  new  bodies  till  these  are  mature  far  beyond  the 
stage  of  the  nursery.  How  can  I  convey  a  glimmer 
of  the  truth  in  a  few  words  ?  The  spiritual  entity  of 
an  advanced  representative  of  a  highly  civilized  race 
may  be  older  than  this  world.  His  or  her  incarnate 
personality,  in  any  given  case,  may  be  only  a  partial 
incarnation.  There  is  a  Higher  Self,  the  part  of  the 
whole  self,  on  a  spiritual  plane  all  the  while.  Clair- 
voyants, adequately  endowed,  can  see  the  law  at  work. 
Mesmeric  practice  will  often  enable  one  to  get  touch 
through  a  personality  with  his  or  her  Higher  Self, 
and  thus  not  merely  verify  its  existence  but  acquire 
voluminous  information  concerning  the  conditions 
of  the  super-physical  lealms  of  consciousness  belonging 
to  this  world.  These  become  so  familiar  to  the 
qualified  occult  investigator,  that  current  discussions 
as  to  whether  they  do  really  exist  or  not  are  more 
ludicrous  in  his  sight  than  the  outsider  who  never 
concerns  himself  with  such  inquiries  can  easily 
imagine.  And  students  of  occultism  will  be  even 
more  amused  by  the  Professor's  criticism  to  the  effect 


Religion  under  Repair :    A  Reply        69 

that  their  studies  throw  "  no  light  on  the  problems 
of  life  and  consciousness . ' '  Their  literature  is  saturated 
with  ethical  teaching  of  an  exalted  order,  which 
bears  on  every  imaginable  problem  of  life  and  con- 
sciousness. Some  Theosophical  writers,  indeed,  are 
so  dominated  by  the  thought  that  nothing  matters 
except  the  cultivation  of  the  loftiest  moral  virtues, 
that  they  are  less  interested  in  the  knowledge  con- 
cerning the  previously  hidden  mysteries  of  Nature 
which  it  has  been  my  special  business  to  unveil  as  far 
as  possible.  To  say  that  the  Higher  Occultism,  which 
embraces  or  includes  Theosophy,  does  not  concern 
itself  with  moral  problems,  would  be  like  saying  that 
the  branch  of  science  called  Physics  does  not  concern 
itself  with  electrical  phenomena. 

So  now  let  me  turn  to  the  supremely  important 
question  Professor  Lindsay  puts  impressively — with 
reference  to  a  statement  I  made  about  Venus  and 
Mercury — "  How  does  he  know  ?"  Quite  uncon- 
sciously he  answers  his  own  question  when,  intending 
to  be  satirical,  he  says:  "Mr.  Sinnett  would  appear 
to  have  sources  of  information  not  generally  avail- 
able." Precisely  so.  I  first  came  into  touch  with 
those  sources  of  information  in  the  year  1879,  and  a 
year  or  two  later  wrote  a  book,  The  Occult  World, 
fully  detailing  the  circumstances  under  which  I  ob- 
tained that  touch,  and  some  of  the  intellectual  results 
that  ensued  from  it.  That  touch  has  been  maintained 
to  the  present  day,  and  it  is  hugely  important  that 
the  consequent  authenticity  of  Theosophical  and 
Occult  teaching  should  be  properly  appreciated. 
Explanation  of  the  reasons  which  led  manj'-  of  us  to 
trust  them  in  the  beginning,  and  of  experiences  con- 
firming that  trust  in  later  years,  is  thus  due  not  so 
much  to  any  casual  critic  exhibiting  hostile  in- 
credulity, as  to  the  ever-increasing  multitudes  who 
are  sympathetically  attracted  to  occult  teaching  on 


70      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

its  own  inherent  merits.  Already  the  Theosophical 
Society,  which  does  not  by  any  means  exhaustively 
comprehend  the  vast  movement  of  Theosophical 
thought,  numbers — according  to  last  year's  general 
report — 989  distinct  branches  or  "  Lodges  "  all  over 
the  world,  with  26,280  members,  leaving  "  enemy 
countries  "  out  of  account.  In  the  interest  of  these 
— now  constituting  the  second  generation  of  Theo- 
sophical members,  for  I  am  almost  the  only  survivor 
of  quite  the  first  generation — as  well  as  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  far  larger  numbers  who  will  assuredly 
appreciate  Theosophical  teaching  as  time  goes  on, 
it  is  supremely  desirable  that  the  actuality  and  nature 
of  that  "  Occult  World  "  described  (very  imperfectly) 
in  my  first  book  should  be  correctly  realized.  All 
knowledge  on  which  our  welfare  depends  must  be 
constantly  brought  up  to  date.  A  conviction  once 
definitely  and  justly  established  in  the  mind  ought 
never  to  fade,  but  for  many  people  such  convictions 
require  to  be  refreshed  from  time  to  time.  So,  in 
reply  to  an  inquiry,  which  on  its  own  merits  alone 
need  not  perhaps  have  claimed  very  earnest  treatment, 
but  may  have  a  dull,  wide  echo  if  undealt  with,  I 
shall  venture  to  explain  once  more  "  how  I  know" 
and  what  are  my  sources  of  information. 

The  great  developments,  as  far  as  they  concerned 
myself,  began  in  1879,  and,  though  the  Professor 
thinks  that  Mme.  Blavatsky  and  the  Mahatmas  are 
a  little  demode,  the  events  of  that  period  paved  the 
way  for  supremely  important  results.  As  anyone 
who  will  read  my  first  book  will  see,  Mme.  Blavatsky 
exercised  abnormal  powers.  It  is  futile  to  suggest 
that  later  on  she  was  accused  of  practising  imposture. 
These  accusations  related  to  events  occurring  long 
after  I  left  India.  They  are  scorned  by  the  multitudes 
who  still  reverence  her  memory,  but  it  is  not  my 
business    to    deal    with    them.     The   record    of   her 


Religion  under  Repair  :    A   Reply        7 1 

magical  doings  which  I  put  forward  has  never  been 
challenged.  Nor  can  it  be  challenged  except  on 
the  hypothesis  that  I  am  not  telling  the  truth. 
If  things  occurred  under  the  circumstances  I  describe, 
no  possible  theory  can  be  framed  to  account  for  them 
except  the  theory  that  she  exercised  power  over 
forces  of  nature  as  yet  unknown  to  science,  producing 
effects  that  were  a  defiance  of  conventional  beliefs 
relating  to  the  natural  laws  governing  matter.  No 
critics  of  my  story  accuse  me  of  intentional  falsehood . 
They  would  be  laughed  at  by  the  large  number  who 
know  me  if  they  did.  They  may  accuse  me  of  having 
been  deceived,  but  that  accusation  falls  to  the  ground 
for  all  who  read  my  records,  because,  if  things  hap- 
pened as  I  describe  them,  there  was  no  room  for 
deception.  That  position  could  only  be  established 
afresh  by  a  tedious  recapitulation  of  definite  occur- 
rences, and  it  is  useless  for  critics  to  assail  it  unless 
they  will  refer  to  the  original  statements  and  show 
how,  under  the  circumstances,  there  was  room  for 
imposture.  For  the  moment  I  must  be  content  to 
repeat  that  such  showing  is  impossible.  I  was  far 
more  deeply  interested  at  the  time  than  anyone  can  be 
now,  in  eliminating  from  the  experiments  I  made  all 
possibility  of  fraud. 

Anyhow  the  result  was  that  I  came  to  know  that 
Mme.  Blavatsky  exercised,  or  was  the  agent  through 
whom  were  exercised,  super-normal  powers.  That 
made  me  inclined  to  listen  to  her  statement  as  to  how 
such  powers  were  obtained.  The  statement  was  to 
the  effect  that  they  were  a  relatively  feeble  reflection 
of  mightier  powers  and  wider  knowledge  possessed 
by  certain  men  whom  she  had  personally  known — 
members  of  a  great  Brotherhood  representing  a  higher 
stage  of  human  evolution  than  had  been  attained  by 
the  foremost  even  of  those  representing  the  progress 
of  scientific  knowledge  in  the  open  world  at  large. 


72      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

This  statement,  though  striking  and  impressive,  did 
not  seem  to  me  incredible.  Why  should  human 
perfectibiUty  after  crossing  such  gulfs  as  those  which 
separate  our  greatest  exponents  of  intellectual  evolu- 
tion— Faraday,  Newton,  Copernicus,  Pythagoras,  etc., 
etc. — from  the  man  in  the  street  (not  to  speak  of  the 
savage),  why  should  it  stop  short  at  the  stage  repre- 
sented by  the  names  quoted  ?  Nor  was  any  mental 
difficulty  involved  in  the  idea  that  still  loftier  stages 
had  to  do  with  knowledge — and  powers  ensuing 
from  it — that  could  not  desirablj''  be  diffused  through 
the  world  at  large  in  its  present  stage  of  development. 
That  is  obvious,  and  it  accounted  for  the  reserve  and 
seclusion  of  the  advanced  "  Masters  of  Wisdom,"  or, 
to  use  the  favourite  Eastern  term,  "  the  Mahatmas." 
When  I  began  to  write  about  them,  shallow-minded 
readers  fastened  on  a  story  which  lent  itself  to  derision, 
while  more  intelligent  Hsteners  in  large  numbers 
began  to  think  seriously  of  "  Theosophy,"  the  com- 
prehensive term  assigned  to  the  new  views  of  natural 
philosophy  opening  out  before  us. 

Satisfied  myself  (to  go  back  to  the  beginning)  that 
the  exponents  of  the  higher  knowledge  must  exist, 
I  was  eager  to  get  into  touch  with  them — and  suc- 
ceeded. First  a  protracted  correspondence  began. 
How  did  letters  pass  between  myself  and  unknown 
correspondents,  in  Himalayan  seclusion  ?  By  that 
time  I  knew  (see  The  Occult  World)  that  occult  power 
could  transport  physical  objects  through  space. 
I  found  that  the  "  Master  "  could  "  take  "  my  letters 
by  means  unfamiliar  to  the  post,  could  give  me  the 
answers  in  strange  and  unexpected  ways.  But  the 
"  wonder  "  of  this  grew  gradually  subordinate  to 
the  importance  of  the  communications  themselves. 
Moreover,  it  was  eclipsed  by  personal  experiences  of 
a  super-normal  character  that  put  me  in  closer  touch 
with  the  Occult  World  than  that  established  by  the 


Religion  under  Repair  :    A  Reply        73 

correspondence.  I  am  now  merely  sketching  the 
course  of  events.  To  describe  them  in  detail  would 
mean  re-writing  some  of  my  books,  but  the  sketch 
will,  at  any  rate,  suggest  the  nature  of  those  "  sources 
of  information  "  which  are  within  my  reach,  though 
"  not  generally  available."  And  a  moment's  re- 
flection will  show  how  reasonable  it  is  to  believe  that 
the  "  Masters  "  (to  use  the  Western  equivalent  for  the 
Indian  word  Mahatma)  are  able,  if  willing,  to  give 
such  information  concerning  the  other  planets  of  the 
Solar  System  and  its  general  design  as  that  which 
I  made  use  of  in  my  former  article^  for  the  Nineteenth 
Century,  and  in  many  books.  Common  knowledge 
here  amongst  us  relating  to  the  capacities  of  our  own 
clairvoyants  (though  there  are  people  claiming  to  be 
cultured  who  remain  absolutely  ignorant  of  them) 
shows  us  the  way  in  which  senses  finer  than  the 
familiar  five  will  reveal  what  is  going  on  at  great 
physical  distances.  Developed  by  Masters  of  super- 
physical  science  is  it  surprising  that  f  hey  should  reach 
out  to  other  worlds  of  our  system  ? 

Again,  amongst  us  everyone  following  the  progress 
of  modern  psychic  research  will  know  that  it  is 
possible  for  the  consciousness  (Soul,  Ego,  call  it  what 
you  like)  to  pass  out  of  the  physical  body  for  a  time 
during  life,  to  bid  a  conscious  good-bye  to  the 
physical  body  left  asleep,  and  roam  the  spaces  of  the 
"  astral  "  world  immediately  around  us,  bringing 
back  recollection  of  such  excursions  when  resuming 
the  use  of  the  physical  body.  And  during  such 
excursions  it  may  be  possible,  for  those  permitted, 
to  have  speech  with  Masters,  as  well  as  with  lesser 
human  entities  who  have  gone  through  the  change 
called  death,  and  thus  learn  lessons  of  priceless 
interest . 

*  See  Nineteenth  Century  and  After,  September  191 7,  pp.  536, 
537- 


74      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

There  are  indeed  other  ways  of  gathering  in  such 
teaching,  and  these  have  been  to  some  extent  at  my 
service  since  the  far-away  days  of  the  beginning  that 
I  have  been  describing,  up  to  the  present  time.  I  am 
now  in  a  position  to  deal,  much  more  definitely  than 
then,  with  the  functions  of  the  Masters  in  connection 
with  the  government  of  the  world  and  of  the  stupen- 
dous Divine  Hierarchy  to  which  they  belong. 

Vast  numbers  among  us  are  ripe  now  to  appreciate 
this  revelation,  though  other  vast  numbers  are  still 
intellectually  cramped  by  conventional  prejudice 
from  which  they  cannot  escape,  and  it  is  to  those 
thus  ripe  that  I  venture  to  address  what  remains  to 
be  said,  rather  than  to  assailants  impatient  with  the 
disturbance  of  their  cherished  limitations. 

The  condition  described  as  Mastership  can  only  be 
attained  by  the  sanction  of  still  higher  authority, 
when  the  moral  and  spiritual  evolution  of  the  being 
in  question  has  reached  a  condition  which  I  have 
described  in  an  earlier  writing  as  follows : 

When  he  is  in  a  position  to  survey  the  whole  process  on  which 
the  human  family  is  launched,  from  its  beginning  in  the  remote 
past  to  its  conclusion  in  the  almost  immeasurably  distant  future ; 
when  all  the  natural  laws  and  forces  which  play  round  it  lie  within 
his  comprehension  and  grasp,  whether  they  are  operative  on  the 
physical  plane  with  its  wonderful  complexity  of  molecules  and 
forces,  or  on  those  other  planes  invisible  to  ordinary  sight  which 
interpenetrate  it  or  surround  it  and  are  more  bewildering  in  their 
complexity  still;  when  all  the  myriad  enigmas  of  good  and  evil, 
of  sin  and  sorrow,  and  hope,  are  resolved  into  intelligible  meaning, 
and  neither  the  earth  below,  nor  the  heavens  above,  nor  life,  nor 
death,  hold  any  riddles  from  his  understanding,  the  Adept  is 
qualified  to  attain  the  final  rank  in  the  vast  concatenation  of 
progress  we  have  been  surveying. 

Concurrently  with  the  advance  in  knowledge  and 
power  thus  suggested,  the  Master  has  been  correctly 
described  by  another  writer  as  necessarily  endowed 
with  "  perfect  compassion,  an  absolutely  selfless 
devotion  to  the  welfare  of  all  sentient  beings,  and 


Religion  under  Repair  :    A  Reply        y^ 

a  boundless  love  and  fellow-feeling  for  them  all." 
It  has  been  my  privilege  in  recent  years  to  pick  up 
some  bits  of  information  concerning  former  lives  of 
some  among  the  great  Masters,  and  these  have  illus- 
trated what  the  writer  just  quoted  meant  by  absolute 
selflessness,  in  a  way  that  has  thrilled  me  with 
emotion,  though  on  the  higher  level  self-sacrifice  is 
taken  as  a  matter  of  course.  How,  it  may  be  asked, 
can  a  being  on  the  Master's  level  be  in  a  position  to 
incur  self-sacrifice  ?  If  his  body  is  menaced  by  injury 
or  destruction,  he  can  quit  it  at  will  and  assume  a  new 
incarnation  if  he  chooses.  Undoubtedly;  but  though 
he  may  have  been  doing  that  at  intervals  (very  pro- 
tracted intervals)  for  a  long  series  of  ages,  he  may 
sometimes  as  a  definite  duty,  to  fulfil  some  peculiar 
purpose,  take  quite  a  humble  or  commonplace  incar- 
nation in  the  ordinary  world.  He  will  never  in  such 
cases  be  known  as  a  Master  in  the  ordinary  world,  but 
he  may,  for  reasons  connected  with  the  welfare  of 
other  people,  choose  to  remain  with  them  and  die, 
even  a  painful  death  in  the  ordinary  way,  though  he 
might  had  he  chosen  have  slipped  out  of  the  body 
without  incurring  the  least  inconvenience,  or,  as 
Apollonius  of  Tyana  is  said  to  have  done  when  before 
Domitian,  vanish  from  sight  and  remove  himself 
from  danger  by  occult  means.  Nor  indeed  does  the 
mere  exchange  of  one  body  for  another  mean  any 
trouble  for  the  Adept  of  Master  rank.  He  can  keep 
any  one  going  for  periods  measured  in  centuries  that 
dazzle  our  imagination,  but  in  the  course  of  ages  may 
find  it  convenient  to  take  new  ones  from  time  to  time. 
And  this  thought  alone  is  one  which  will  help  to 
dissipate  the  erroneous  notion  prevalent  in  the 
beginning  of  the  Theosophical  movement,  to  the  eifect 
that  there  was  something  especially  Eastern  in  the 
higher  Adeptship.  The  Master  of  Occultism  is  bound 
by  no  limitations  of  nationahty,  will  be  sometimes 


76      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

in  an  Eastern  as  often  in  a  Western  incarnation.  He 
belongs  to  the  World  !  not  to  any  single  section  of  its 
people,  however  large  that  section  may  be. 

The  main  idea  in  relation  to  the  Masters  that  I  want 
to  enforce  is  this :  they  belong  to  the  Divine  Hierarchy 
that  presides  over  the  evolution  of  mankind,  and  as 
regards  their  work  in  guiding  human  progress,  as 
definitely  as  they  are  able,  are  absolutely  at  one,  in 
thought  and  intention,  with  the  still  higher  agents  in 
that  sublime  hierarchy.  They  may  not  always  find 
it  possible  to  steer  humanity  exactly  as  they  would 
wish.  We,  in  this  life,  collectively  constitute  a  craft 
that  often  fails  to  answer  to  the  helm.  And,  as  I 
endeavoured  to  explain  in  a  former  article  entitled 
Our  Unseen  Enemies  and  Allies,"^  we  are  terribly 
mixed  up  with  inimical  agencies  bent  upon  interfering 
with  the  Divine  purpose  at  every  available  oppor- 
tunity. If  it  were  not  for  the  ceaseless,  untiring 
efforts  of  our  unknown  protectors  to  shield  us  from 
the  consequences  of  such  attacks,  the  civilization  of 
the  world,  the  further  evolution  of  the  whole  human 
race,  indeed,  would  be  utterly  wrecked. 

For  various  reasons  it  is  highly  desirable  that  the 
world  should  understand  this.  The  services  the 
Masters  render  us,  in  harmony  with  the  influence  of 
the  whole  hierarchy  to  which  they  belong,  would  be 
rendered  just  as  zealously,  however  ignorant  we 
might  be  of  the  benefits  conferred  upon  us.  Divine 
agents  do  not  work  for  reward.  But  if  the  matter  is 
rightly  understood  it  will  be  seen  that  we  are  the 
people  who  would  be  richly  rewarded,  if  we  became 
cognizant  of  the  benefits  conferred,  and  were,  so  to 
speak,  grateful  accordingly.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that 
if  such  gratitude  were  widely  felt  and  associated  with 
clear  comprehension  of  the  way  in  which  our  Elder 
Brethren,  the  Unseen  Masters,  are  struggling  on  super- 
^  See  Nineteenth  Century  and  After,  October,  191 5. 


Religion  under  Repair  :    A   Reply        'jj 

physical  planes  with  the  Powers  of  Evil  on  our  behalf, 
they  would  in  a  certain  degree  be  strengthened  in  the 
Struggle  they  are  carrying  on.  Success  does  not 
depend  on  such  reinforcement  of  strength ;  that  is 
certain  and  assured,  but  the  duration  of  the  struggle, 
on  which  the  duration  of  the  War  depends,  might  be 
to  some  extent  affected  in  the  way  above  described. 

Meanwhile  the  more  subtle  reward  we  should  secure 
by  gratefully  appreciating  the  protection  afforded  us 
has  to  do  with  a  law  of  Nature  familiar  to  the  occultist, 
and  of  growing  importance  to  humanity  as  evolution 
proceeds.  Spiritual  help  of  the  kind  affecting  the 
spiritual  welfare  and  progress  of  each  human  unit 
can  only  be  rendered  by  higher  beings  in  response  to 
aspiration  from  the  level  of  this  life.  We  must  look 
up,  in  order  that  they  may  look  down,  in  the  manner 
affecting  individual  progress.  The  progress  of  the 
world  collectively  will  go  on,  anyhow,  when  the 
terrible  crisis  through  which  it  is  passing  is  over,  be- 
cause some  of  us  will  assuredly  be  looking  up,  and 
these  in  the  course  of  time  will  drag  on  the  rest.  In 
that  way  the  evolution  and  progress  of  the  race,  as  a 
whole,  is  provided  for,  but  it  will  be  appreciably 
accelerated  if  those  who  look  up,  in  the  way  described, 
become  appreciably  more  numerous  than  the  mere 
laws  of  average  would  ensure.  And  the  acceleration  of 
progress,  as  regards  the  upward-lookers  themselves, 
might  be  more  remarkable  than  they  can  readily 
imagine.  Not  indeed  that  such  a  spiritually  selfish 
motive  ought  to  be  mainly  operative  in  bringing  about 
the  state  of  feeling  that  should  prevail.  From  the 
point  of  view  of  the  mere  occult  student  on  this  plane 
of  life,  it  is  disgusting  that  the  great  multitude 
around  us  should  be,  so  to  speak,  sopping  up  the 
benefits  conferred  upon  them  by  the  Masters  col- 
lectively and  failing  even  to  feel  decently  thankful. 
Any  Master  who  may  take  cognizance  of  this  that 


78      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

I  am  writing  would,  1  fancy,  laugh  at  the  notion  that 
they  could  be  supposed  to  want  gratitude,  but  none 
the  less  all  that  I  have  written  above  holds  good,  and 
anj''how  I  know  that  they  are  eager  to  help  all  who 
are  ready  to  be  helped,  and  therefore  are  more  than 
pleased  when  such  help  is  consciously  invoked.  At 
earlier  stages  of  the  world's  growth  they  had  to 
remain  concealed.  The.stake  and  the  torture 
chambers  of  the  Church  aw2tii€4  those  who  tried  to 
proclaim  any  faith  nobler  than  that  of  the  priests. 
The  Masters  had  to  bide  theirjiffie.  But  their  time 
has  now  come.  The  worl^>s^pe  to  have  its  religious 
thought  levelled  up  to  harmonize  with  the  sublime 
realities  of  Divjj^e"' government,  and  the  dangers  of 
allowing  spwfifual  truth  to  be  set  free  from  medieval 
corruj>ti6n  have  at  last  b^^i|ne  negligible. 

A  good  deal  in  advance  of  the  modem  occult 
development,  a  book  called  A  Suggestive  Inquiry  into 
the  Hermetic  Mystery,  published  fifty  years  ago, 
gave  out  some  information  about  alchemy  (the 
occultism  of  the  Middle  Ages)  that  some  devotees  of 
that  study  at  the  time  thought  dangerously  frank. 
The  author  answers  the  criticism  by  anticipation  in 
words  which  I  will  leave,  in  conclusion,  as  applicable 
also  to  such  explanations  as  it  has  been  my  privilege 
to  put  forward : 

If  we  have  been  free  in  our  expositions  the  spirit  was  not  the 
more  reckless,  but  because  the  thresholds  of  ignorance  are  already 
overpast.  .  .  .  They  are  all  now  incredulous  who  were  formerly 
dreaded  in  their  belief,  and  under  that  safe  guardianship  we  leave 
them  happily  supine  in  the  conviction  that  our  conduct  will 
neither  be  attractive  nor  intelligible,  much  less  practically  useful, 
to  the  profane  multitude  of  mankind. 


THE  OCCULTISM  IN  TENNYSON'S  POETRY 

A  FEW  among  the  great  host  of  his  devotees  who, 
besides  appreciating  the  varied  beauties  of  Tennyson's 
poetry,  are  in  touch  with  modern  developments  of  the 
Higher  Occultism,  will  be  alive  to  the  significance 
of  some  hints  scattered  through  his  writings  showing 
how  he,  in  advance  of  modern  developments,  intuitively 
divined  some  important  principles  now  emerging  from 
obscurity  into  the  light.  Even  highly  cultured  and 
appreciative  readers,  unless  also  students  of  occultism, 
may  pass  them  by  unnoticed.  Sir  Alfred  Lyall,  for 
example,  in  his  generally  admirable  survey  of  Tenny- 
son's work,  contributed  to  the  series  of  "  English  Men 
of  Letters,"  overlooks  some  glaring  hints  of  the  kind 
in  question,  while  actually  dealing  with  the  mere 
literary  charm  of  one  poem  mainly  devoted  to  the 
presentation  of  occult  ideas. 

The  elucidation  of  the  passages  thus  hinting  at 
hitherto  hidden  mysteries  of  spiritual  Nature  is  the 
purpose  of  the  present  article,  but  it  must  not  be  held 
to  imply  that  the  writer  seeks  to  enrol  Tennyson  in  the 
ranks  of  professed  occultists .  Of  course,  the  splendour 
of  his  genius  shone  chiefly  in  his  treatment  of  purely 
human  emotion.  And  we,  who  have  passed  through 
life  side  by  side  with  the  poetic  stream  of  hi^s  creation 
that  flowed  through  the  greater  part  of  the  last 
century,  have  derived  our  most  intense  pleasure  from 
the  perfection  of  his  earlier  verse,  apart  from  the  beauty 
of  the  thoughts  it  conveyed.  Then  came  the  Idylls 
of  the  King  in  their  stately  magnificence,  but  they 
have  nothing  to  do  with  occultism.     A  truly  great 

79 


8o      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

poet  can  never  be  a  specialist  in  any  one  vein  of 
creation,  though  in  whatever  vein  he  is  following, 
Tennyson  seems  for  the  moment  to  be  a  specialist 
in  that.  The  Lady  of  Shalott,  The  Day  Dream,  The 
Lotos-Eaters ,  and  many  others  of  that  period,  surpass 
in  their  musical  charm  any  previous  verse  in  English 
literature,  though  Byron  and  Moore  sometimes 
touched  the  same  level.  And  the  way  in  which 
Locksley  Hall  might  be  criticized,  like  Hamlet,  as 
"  full  of  quotations,"  shows  how  Tennyson  was  a 
specialist  among  poets  in  coining  phrases  that  linger 
in  universal  memory,  while  the  Idylls  of  the  King  lead 
some  of  us  to  forget  that  the  supreme  master  of 
blank  verse  was  equally  unrivalled  in  dealing  with 
rhyme.  But  after  all,  however  highly  we  may 
appreciate  his  art,  that  merely  renders  the  surface 
worthy  of  the  substance  of  his  poetry. 

So  much  in  advance  to  show  that  the  interest  some 
of  us  may  take  in  the  flashes  of  occult  inspiration  to 
be  discerned  in  Tennyson's  poems  need  not  separate 
us  from  the  sympathy  of  worshippers  who  live  in  a 
more  familiar  atmosphere.  Nor  from  the  point  of 
view  of  occult  students,  who  have  profited  by  the  flood 
of  light  let  in  of  late  on  mysteries  previously  obscure, 
will  the  flashes  in  question  show  that  Tennyson  was 
completely  in  possession  of  knowledge  which  humbler 
mortals  at  the  present  day  are  inheriting  without  an 
effort.  Indeed,  innumerable  allusions  to  death  and 
the  hereafter  in  In  Memoriam  are  hardly  tinged  with 
any  philosophy  deeper  than  ordinary  religious  feeling, 
and  in  The  Two  Voices  the  second  voice,  which  sweeps 
away  the  comfortless  reasoning  of  the  first,  offers 
merely 

A  little  hint  to  solace  Woe — 

A  hint,  a  whisper  breathing  low, 

a  mere  "  hidden  hope."     And  yet  the  same  poem 
contains   a  passage   that   might  almost  be  reckoned 


The  Occultism  in  Tennyson's  Poetry     8i 

among  the  flashes  of  inspiration,  suggesting  the  theory 
of  Hfe  now  reduced  to  a  scientific  shape,  and  gradually 
winning  consent  in  all  directions — the  doctrine  of 
Reincarnation : 

I  cannot  make  this  matter  plain. 
But  I  would  shoot,  howe'er  in  vain, 
A  random  arrow  from  the  brain. 

It  may  be  that  no  life  is  found. 
Which  only  to  one  engine  bound 
Falls  off,  but  cycles  always  round. 

As  old  mythologies  relate. 

Some  draught  of  Lethe  might  await 

The  slipping  thro'  from  state  to  state. 

As  here  we  find  in  trances,  men 
Forget  the  dream  that  happens  then. 
Until  they  fall  in  trance  again. 

I  need  not  expand  the  quotation.  The  poem  from 
which  it  comes  will  be  familiar  to  all  Tennysonian 
enthusiasts,  and  the  passage  to  which  I  call  attention 
embodies  a  thought  far  more  fully  treated  in  later 
utterances ;  but  before  dealing  with  them  it  is  worth 
while  to  turn  back  to  one  of  his  very  earliest  fragments 
entitled  The  Mystic,  written  when  Tennyson  could  not 
have  been  more  than  seventeen,  and  to  be  found,  I 
think,  in  one  edition  of  the  Poems  by  Two  Brothers. 
It  begins: 

Angels  have  talked  with  him  and  shown  him  thrones. 
Ye  knew  him  not,  he  was  not  one  of  ye. 
Ye  scorned  him  with  an  undiscerning  scorn. 
Ye  could  not  read  the  marvel  in  his  eye. 
The  still  serene  abstraction  he  hath  felt. 

Skipping  a  great  deal  to  the  same  general  effect,  we 
come  to  the  final  lines,  which  are  as  follows : 

How  could  ye  know  him  ?     Ye  were  yet  within 
The  narrower  circle :  he  had  well-nigh  reached 
The  last  which  with  a  region  of  white  flame 
Pure  without  heat  into  a  larger  air 
Upburning  and  an  ether  of  black  blue 
Investcth  and  engirds  all  other  lives. 

6 


82      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

As  far  as  the  form  of  this  poem  is  concerned  we 
need  not  trace  any  of  the  lines,  though  some  of  them 
are  dignified  and  worthy  of  the  subject,  to  anything 
in  the  nature  of  verbal  inspiration.  As  the  Memoir 
by  his  son  shows  us,  Tennyson  wrote  verse  when  he 
was  only  eight  years  old,  and  the  Memoir  gives  us 
some  fairly  long  and  harmonious  examples  of  his 
boyhood's  work,  never  published  during  his  life,  written 
when  he  was  fourteen  or  fifteen.  Everyone  familiar 
with  the  principle  of  Reincarnation  will  readily  under- 
stand that  so  great  a  poet  as  Tennyson  must  have 
been  a  poet  already  in  former  lives,  and  could  not 
but  bring  over  the  capacity  for  poetic  expression,  so 
that  inspiration,  merely  conveying  an  idea,  could 
rely  on  the  new  personality  to  clothe  it  in  appropriate 
language.  Thus,  although  the  ideas  underlying  The 
Mystic  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  originating  in  the 
mind  of  a  boy  of  seventeen,  the  words  conveying  them 
may  have  been  entirely  his  own . 

The  description  of  The  Mystic  is  not  appropriate 
to  any  one  on  the  ordinary  plane  of  life  to  whom  that 
term  might  apply.  Writers  on  the  philosophical 
system  generally  called  "  Mysticism  "  are  "  Mystics  " 
in  one  sense,  but  may  not  have  any  characteristics 
resembling  those  described  in  the  poem.  Those  are 
the  characteristics  which — with  others — belong  to  the 
highly  evolved  "  Elder  Brethren  "  of  the  human  race 
— now  generally  spoken  of  as  the  Masters  of  Wisdom, 
of  whom — since  they  themselves  have  communicated 
more  freely  than  in  former  times  with  the  ordinary 
plane  of  life — we  have  come  to  know  a  good  deal. 
That  they  inspire  many  modern  writers  with  ideas 
for  them  to  work  up  in  the  progress  of  literature,  art, 
and  science  is  now  clearly  realized  by  their  pupils 
in  occultism.  Conventional  thinking  has  hitherto 
made  at  once  too  much  and  too  little  of  inspiration. 
It  has  been  conceived  as  only  of  very  rare  occurrence 


The  Occultism  in  Tennyson's  Poetry      83 

in  connection  with  writings  of  a  sacred  character,  its 
frequency  being  thus  very  hmited,  while  its  source 
is  thought  of  as  altogether  Divine.  It  is  really  of 
constant  occurrence  and  emanates  from  all  levels  of 
the  Divine  Hierarchy.  The  extent  to  which  writers 
and  artists  (those  with  some  lofty  purpose  in  their 
work)  are  "  helped  "  by  invisible  beings,  on  a  higher 
plane  of  life  than  their^own,  can  hardly  be  exaggerated, 
so  there  is  indeed  little  reason  to  be  surprised  at 
finding  a  youthful  poet  of  Tennyson's  promise  under 
inspiration  from  a  very  early  period. 

But  the  world  was  not  ripe  in  the  year  1 826  for  the 
gift  of  any  detailed  information  concerning  the  actual 
constitution  of  the  Divine  Hierarchy,  with  its  varied 
levels  of  dignity  and  power  and  intricate  agencies.  In 
1892,  towards  the  close  of  the  great  poet's  life,  con- 
ditions had  changed  in  a  very  remarkable  degree.  And 
the  flashes  of  inspiration  to  which  Tennyson  lent 
himself  then  became  wonderfully  distinct.  A  few 
verses  to  be  found  in  the  volume  published  in  that 
year,  and  entitled  By  an  Evolutionist,  are  deeply 
suggestive.     We  read  as  follows : 

The  Lord  let  the  house  of  a  brute  to  the  soul  of  a  man, 

And  the  man  said  "  Am  I  your  debtor  ?" 
And  the  Lord — "  Not  yet :  but  make  it  as  clean  as  you  can. 

And  then  I  will  let  you  a  better." 

Occult  students  will  recognize  in  these  few  lines  a 
flood  of  significant  allusion.  The  words  alone  may 
have  no  deep  meaning  for  readers  unfamiliar  with  the 
great  principles  hinted  at,  but  for  those  who  know 
more  they  are  richly  significant.  They  include,  to 
begin  with,  the  fundamental  idea  that  humanity  is 
evolved  from  humbler  animal  life,  and  beyond  this 
they  recognize  the  method  of  that  evolution — the 
transfer  of  Consciousness  from  Lower  to  Higher 
Vehicles  as  the  consequence  of  its  own  craving  for 
the  higher.     They  recognize  more  than  that  indeed — 


84      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

a  deep  and  supremely  important  idea  concerning  the 
nature  of  consciousness.  This  is  one  of  the  latest 
developments  of  advanced  occult  teaching.  Con- 
sciousness— that  supreme  mystery  that  baffles  all 
physiological  research — ^is  uniform  in  its  character 
throughout  all  manifestations  of  Hfe.  There  is  only 
one  kind  of  consciousness :  that  of  human  beings  and 
of  the  animal  creation  is  the  same  throughout.  Its 
effective  value  depends  on  the  vehicle  in  which  it  is 
working.  In  the  body  of  an  animal  it  is  subject  to 
extreme  limitations.  In  the  body  of  a  man  it  has 
greatly  expanded  capacities.  In  the  vehicles  of 
consciousness  belonging  to  higher  planes  it  finds  these 
capacities  again  expanded  to  an  extent  which  ordinary 
humanity,  at  the  average  stage  reached  in  this  world 
at  the  present  time,  cannot  even  grasp  in  imagination . 
At  every  stage  of  the  process  the  same  law  works. 
Any  given  volume  of  consciousness  within  any  given 
vehicle,  gradually  becoming  an  individuality,  estab- 
lishes a  claim  on  Nature  for  an  improved  vehicle,  by 
making  the  best  possible  use  of  the  one  it  has  got. 
"  Make  it  as  clean  as  you  can,  and  then  I  will  let 
you  a  better." 

We  can  understand  the  law  best  by  concentrating 
attention  on  humanity  at  first.  The  man  at  an  early 
stage  of  his  progress  cannot  ascend  to  great  heights 
of  achievement.  He  may  be  fit  for  little  more  than 
the  rougher  manual  work  of  physical  life.  But  being 
by  that  time  a  man,  he  has — if  only  a  glimmering — 
perception  of  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong. 
He  follows  the  guidance  of  this  perception.  He  makes 
the  vehicle  of  his  consciousness  (which  is  himself) 
"  as  clean  as  he  can."  In  his  next  incarnation  he 
infallibly  acquires  "  a  better."  Thus  the  verse  above 
quoted,  among  other  ideas,  clearly  recognizes  the 
principle  of  Reincarnation,  which  Tennyson  evidently 
accepted  without  reserve  and  worked  with  continually. 


The  Occultism  in  Tennyson's  Poetry     85 

In  the  Memoir  of  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson  by  his  son 
we  are  told  that  he  left  a  Note  to  Section  xliii.  of 
In  Memoriam,  which  runs  as  follows : 

If  the  immediate  life  after  death  be  only  sleep,  and  the  spirit 
between  this  life  and  the  next  should  be  folded  like  a  flower  in  a 
night  slumber,  then  the  remembrance  of  the  last  night  remains 
as  the  smell  and  colour  do  in  the  sleeping  flower,  and  in  that  case 
the  memory  of  our  love  would  last  as  true  and  would  live  pure 
and  whole  within  the  spirit  of  my  friend  until  after  it  was  un- 
folded at  the  breaking  of  the  morn  when  the  sleep  was  over. 

In  writing  this  Tennyson  was  evidently  concentrat- 
ing thought  on  the  idea  of  rebirth  and  the  recovery  of 
the  love-relations  of  the  previous  life.  Even  if  the 
intervening  period  were  merely  a  sleep  the  true  Ego 
would  reappear  in  the  awakening  life.  The  more 
scientific  view  of  reincarnation,  of  course — while 
confidently  recognizing  that  idea — ^realizes  the 
immense  importance  of  the  intervening  life  on  higher 
planes.  Sometimes,  indeed,  if  the  Ego  is  at  a  humble 
stage  of  its  expansion,  the  intervening  period,  though 
restful  and  happy,  is  little  better  than  a  bhssful  sleep. 
In  others  it  affords  magnificent  opportunities  for  the 
cultivation  of  intellectual  or  artistic  capacity.  True, 
such  growth  can  only  take  place  as  a  consequence 
of  some  effective  seed  of  aspiration  or  effort  sown 
in  the  previous  physical  life,  but  even  minute  seeds 
of  that  nature  are  nuclei  from  which  splendid  conse- 
quences may  ensue,  without  in  any  way  interfering 
with  the  revival  of  old  loves  and  even  minor  friend- 
ships dating  back  to  the  past.  The  disregard  of  this 
important  aspect  of  the  subject  operates  to  render 
the  idea  of  reincarnation  unattractive  to  people  who 
understand  it  imperfectly.  They  think  of  themselves 
beginning  a  new  life  all  alone  as  it  were.  This  is  a 
ridiculous  misapprehension  of  the  natural  law.  A 
moment's  thought  should  show  that  probability  points 
to  the  idea  that  generations  Hving  about  the  same 


86      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

time  will — on  the  average — get  through  their  inter- 
vening lives  on  higher  planes,  and  be  ready  for 
reincarnation  at  about  the  same  time  later  on .  Where 
personal  ties  of  love  or  even  less  powerful  affinities 
associate  Egos  together,  their  return  together  becomes 
a  matter  of  certainty.  Adequately  trained  clairvoy- 
ance is  equal  to  the  task  of  verifying  that  principle, 
and  tracing  back,  even  through  ages  in  the  past,  the 
former  lives  of  living  people. 

Whenever  genuine  mutual  affection  unites  people 
on  this  plane  of  life,  they  are  always  found  to  have 
been  in  afi^ectionate  relatioaship  in  former  lives  also. 
There  may  have  been  considerable  differences  in  in- 
tellectual growth  even,  but  the  love-ti«4§^supreme,  and 
the  ingenuity  of  the  n^jtwal  law — or  of  tlK)se  who  guide 
the  natural  la'^?'-i:§equal  to  the  emergency  in  such 
cases,  and--c6^  much  more  complicated  problems  of 
"  Karma  " — the  convenient  term  which  embraces, 
among  other  meanings,  the  necessity  that  moral 
causes  engendered  in  one  life  shall  reap  their  appro- 
priate consequences  in  lives  of  later  date. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  last  verse  of  the  brief  poem, 
of  which  the  first  has  been  quoted  above : 

I  have  climb'd  to  the  snows  of  Age,  and  I  gaze  at  a  field  in  the 
Past, 
Where  I  sank  with  the  body  at  times  in  the  sloughs  of  a  low 
desire. 
But  I  hear  no  yelp  of  the  beast,  and  the  Man  is  quiet  at  last 
As  he  stands  on  the  heights  of  his  life  with  a  glimpse  of  a 
height  that  is  higher. 

The  last  few  words  of  the  last  line — "  a  gHmpse  of  a 
height  that  is  higher  " — hint  unmistakably  at  the 
sublime  possibilities  of  Initiation.  There  is  no 
finality  in  the  vast  process  of  human  evolution,  but 
there  are  recognizable  stages.  The  perfe(  t  Man  has 
reached  one  of  these  stages,  from  which  he  looks 
forward  to  spiritual  attainment  transcending  any 
condition  that  can  be  limited  by  the  term  humanity. 


The  Occultism  in  Tennyson's  Poetry     87 

I  need  not  attempt  to  elaborate  that  idea;  but  we 
shall  see  reason  to  believe  that  the  poet  knew  more 
of  the  height  that  is  higher  than  he  found  it  possible 
to  put  into  words. 

The  law  under  which  Divine  consciousness  in 
humanity  seeks  and  secures  better  and  better  vehicles 
operates  also  throughout  the  lower  kingdoms.  It  is 
not  easily  traced  through  animal  and  vegetable  mani- 
festations, but  even  faintly  understood  it  illuminates 
the  whole  doctrine  of  Evolution.  Occult  students 
at  one  time  were  inclined  to  find  fault  with  the 
Darwinian  presentation  of  the  idea,  as  ignoring  the 
evolution  of  consciousness  going  on  concurrently 
with  the  evolution  of  form.  We  see  now  that  the 
evolution  of  form  defines  the  evolution  of  conscious- 
ness. Consciousness  is  very  far  from  being  a  mere 
attribute  of  the  form,  as  some  materialistic  scientists 
of  the  last  century  imagined,  but  the  expression  of  its 
infinite  capacities  depends  on  the  form  in  which  it  is 
working.  This  view  of  the  subject  is  worthy  of 
protracted  treatment ;  but  there  are  other  poems  that 
claim  examination. 

A  little  fragment — merely  two  verses — entitled  The 
Making  of  Man,  is  well  worth  attention,  but  does  not 
do  more  than  reiterate  some  of  the  ideas  in  the  verses 
last  discussed.  It  recognizes  the  nature  of  the  tiger 
and  the  ape  as  necessarily  manifesting  in  humanity 
at  first,  but 

Prophet-eyes  may  catch  a  glor^  slowly  gaining  on  the  shade. 

Till  the  peoples  all  are  one  and  all  their  voices  blend  in  choric 
Hallelujah  to  the  Maker — "  It  is  finished.     Man  is  made." 

We  may  now  turn  to  the  poem  which  is  the  fullest 
expression  of  occult  inspiration  among  all  that  suggest 
that  origin — The  Ancient  Sage.  This,  indeed,  in- 
cludes evidence  showing  that  Tennyson  in  his  own 
consciousness    had    attained    to    definite    knowledge 


8  8      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

relating  to  spiritual  conditions  far  transcending  those 
familiar  to  the  average  humanity  of  our  period.  The 
An  cient  Sage  was  published  in  the  volume  entitled 
"  Tiresias  and  other  Poems,"  just  preceding  the  latest 
of  all — "  Demeter  and  other  Poems."  The  "Sage," 
obviously  a  Master  of  Wisdom,  criticises  a  "  scroll  " 
by  a  young  companion  who  has  embodied  sceptical, 
almost  materialistic,  views  in  very  graceful  verse- 
The  scroll  recognizes  that  "  the  earth  is  fair  in  hue," 

But  man  to-day  is  fancy's  fool 

As  man  hath  ever  been. 
The  nameless  Power,  or  Powers,  that  rule 

Were  never  heard  or  seen. 

The  Master  comments  on  this : 

If  thou  wouldst  hear  the  Nameless,  and  wilt  dive 
Into  the  Temple-cave  of  thine  own  self, 
There,  brooding  by  the  central  altar,  thou 
Mayst  haply  learn  the  Nameless  hath  a  voice. 
By  which  thou  wilt  abide,  if  thou  be  wise. 

The  scroll  still  quarrels  with  the  mystery. 

And  since — from  when  this  earth  began — 

The  Nameless  never  came 
Among  us,  never  spake  with  man, 

And  never  named  the  Name. 

And  the  Sage  answers  with  almost  the  best  passage 
in  the  whole  poem: 

Thou  canst  not  prove  the  Nameless,  O  my  son, 
Npr  canst  thou  prove  the  world  thou  movest  in, 
Thou  canst  not  prove  that  thou  art  body  alone. 
Nor  canst  thou  prove  that  thou  art  spirit  alone. 
Nor  canst  thou  prove  that  thou  art  both  in  one : 
Thou  canst  not  prove  thou  art  immortal,  no. 
Nor  yet  that  thou  art  mortal — nay  my  son, 
Thou  canst  not  prove  that  I,  who  speak  with  thee. 
Am  not  thyself  in  converse  with  thyself, 
For  nothing  worthy  proving  can  be  proven, 
Nor  yet  disproven :  wherefore  thou  be  wise, 
Cleave  ever  to  the  sunnier  side  of  doubt. 
And  cling  to  Faith  beyond  the  forms  of  Faith  ! 


The  Occultism  in  Tennyson's  Poetry     89 

After  a  passage  in  the  scroll  relating  to  the  darkness 
and  miseries  of  life,  the  Sage  replies : 

Who  knows  but  that  the  darkness  is  in  man  ? 
The  doors  of  Night  may  be  the  gates  of  Light; 
For  wert  thou  born  or  blind  or  deaf,  and  then 
Suddenly  heal'd,  how  wouldst  thou  glory  in  all 
The  splendours  and  the  voices  of  the  world  ! 

And  this  leads  up  to  the  most  striking  passage  in  the 
poem,  in  which  the  Sage- — in  this  case  Tennyson  him- 
self— ^got  "  out  of  the  body,"  to  use  a  phrase  familiar 
to  occult  students,  by  adopting  a  method  with  which 
they  are  quite  familiar.  This  consists  of  self-induced 
hypnotism  brought  on  by  repeating — alone  and  aloud 
— one's  own  name.  The  repetitions  may  have  to  be 
very  numerous,  running  perhaps  into  hundreds,  and 
even  then  the  effort  may  be  futile  unless  the  person 
making  it  has  some  psychic  potentialities  in  his 
nature.  But  granting  that  last  condition,  it  is  an 
effective  process,  and  one  which  Tennyson  seems  to 
have  been  almost  in  the  habit  of  using.  His  reference 
to  it  in  the  poem  before  us  is  as  follows : 

for  more  than  once  when  I 
Sat  all  alone,  revolving  in  myself 
The  word  that  is  the  symbol  of  myself. 
The  mortal  limit  of  the  Self  was  loosed. 
And  past  into  the  Nameless,  as  a  cloud 
Melts  into  Heaven.     I  touched  my  limbs,  the  limbs 
Were  strange  not  mine — and  yet  no  shade  of  doubt, 
But  utter  clearness,  and  thro'  loss  of  Self 
The  gain  of  such  large  life  as  match'd  with  ours 
Were  Sun  to  spark — unshadowable  in  words, 
Themselves  but  shadows  of  a  shadow  world. 

I  cannot  identify  any  other  allusion  in  the  whole 
range  of  Tennyson's  poetry  that  directly  relates  to 
experiences  of  this  nature,  but  in  the  Memoir  his 
Son  tells  us  that 

in  somcTphases  of  thought  and  feeling  his  idealism  tended  more 
decidedly  tomysticism.     He  wrote:  "A  kind  of  waking  trance 


90      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

I  have  frequently  had  quite  up  from  boyhood  when  I  have  been 
all  alone.  This  has  generally  come  upon  me  through  repeating 
my  own  name  two  or  three  times  to  myself  silently,  till  all  at 
once,  as  it  were  out  of  the  intensity  of  the  consciousness  of  indi- 
viduality, the  individuality  itself  seemed  to  dissolve  and  fade 
away  into  boundless  being,  and  this  not  a  confused  state  but  the 
clearest  of  the  clearest,  the  surest  of  the  surest,  the  weirdest  of 
the  weirdest,  utterly  beyond  words,  where  death  was  an  almost 
laughable  impossibility,  the  loss  of  personality  (if  so  it  were) 
seeming  no  extinction  but  the  only  true  life  !  This  might  be  said 
to  be  the  state  which  St.  Paul  describes,  '  Whether  in  the  body  I 
cannot  tell,  or  whether  out  of  the  body  I  cannot  tell !'  "  He 
continued:  "I  am  ashamed  of  my  feeble  description.  Have  I 
not  said  the  state  is  utterly  beyond  words  ?  But  in  a  moment 
when  I  come  back  to  my  normal  state  of  '  sanity  '  I  am  ready  to 
fight  for  mein  liehes  Ich  and  hold  that  it  will  last  for  aeons  of  aeons . ' ' 
In  the  same  way  he  said  that  there  might  be  a  more  intimate 
communion  than  we  could  dream  of  between  the  living  and  the 
dead,  at  all  events  for  a  time. 

So  the  spiritualists  may  fairly  claim  Tennysonian 
sanction  for  the  fundamental  principle  of  their  belief, 
which  indeed  is  quite  in  harmony  with  the  views 
of  advanced  occult  students,  though  some  of  early 
date  were  misled  into  a  needlessly  hostile  mistrust 
of  the  system,  apt  in  some  cases  to  be  itself  rather 
misleading,  but  which — as  broadly  designed  to  assure 
a  world  drifting  at  one  time  into  materialism  that 
there  is  another  life  after  this,  and  so  on — was  a 
generous  gift  to  civilization  from  levels  of  higher 
wisdom. 

Readers  of  the  Memoir  will  derive,  from  a  very 
unexpected  source,  confirmation  of  the  fact  that 
Tennyson  made  frequent  use  of  the  repeated-name 
method  of  attaining  spiritual  illumination .  It  appears 
that  the  author  asked  Professor  Tyndall  to  make  some 
contribution  to  the  work  in  hand.  In  the  course  of 
a  long  answer  he  says : 

I  looked  up  the  account  of  my  first  visit  to  Farringford,  and 
there  to  my  profound  astonishment  I  found  described  that 
experience  of  your  father's  which,  in  the  mouth  of  the  Ancient 


The  Occultism  in  Tennyson's  Poetry     91 

Sage,  was  made  the  ground  of  an  important  argument  against 
materialism  and  in  favour  of  personal  immortality  eight-and- 
twenty  years  afterwards.  ...  If  you  turn  to  your  father's 
account  of  the  wonderful  state  of  consciousness  super-induced  by 
thinking  of  his  own  name  and  compare  it  with  the  argument  of  the 
Ancient  Sage  you  will  see  that  they  refer  to  one  and  the  same 
phenomenon. 

The  injunctions  which  the  Sage  ultimately  gives 
to  his  pupil,  described  in  the  beginning  as 

one  that  loved,  and  honour 'd  him,  and  yet 
Was  no  disciple,  richly  garb'd,  but  worn 
From  wasteful  living  .  .  . 

sweep  over  the  whole  range  of  occult  ethics.  I  pick 
out  a  few  lines  from  a  passage  too  long  to  quote  in 
extenso  : 

Let  be  thy  wail  and  help  thy  fellow  men. 
And  make  thy  gold  thy  vassal  not  thy  king. 
And  send  the  day  into  the  darken'd  heart; 
Nor  list  for  guerdon  in  the  voice  of  men. 

Nor  roll  thy  viands  on  a  luscious  tongue. 

Nor  drown  thyself  with  flies  in  honied  wine; 

Nor  thou  be  rageful,  like  a  handled  bee, 

And  lose  thy  life  by  usage  of  thy  sting ; 

Nor  harm  an  adder  thro'  the  lust  for  harm, 

Nor  make  a  snail's  horn  shrink  for  wantonness; 

And  more — think  well !     Do-well  will  follow  thought. 

Each  injunction  will  be  familiar  to  readers  of 
theosophical  books,  and  a  fortiori  to  all  students  of  the 
Higher  Occultism,  and  that  last  phrase,  "  Do-well 
will  follow  thought,"  is  an  almost  amusing  reflection 
of  a  more  elaborate  doctrine  set  forth  in  certain 
manuals  that  profess  to  guide  candidates  for  initiation 
in  the  higher  mysteries.  They  are  told  first  to  purify 
thought,  and  secondly  to  purify  conduct.  From  the 
commonplace  point  of  view  that  seems  putting  the 
cart  before  the  horse,  but  action  may  sometimes  be 
thoughtless,  and  then  if  it  were  avoided  for  no  definite 


92      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

reason  it  would  probably  be  repeated  for  no  definite 
reason.  If  purified  thought  preceded  its  avoidance, 
the  cure  would  be  permanent. 

It  is  needless  to  carry  on  further  the  search  for 
occult  allusions  in  Tennyson's  poetry.     Fainter  hints, 
in  the  order  of  those  already  quoted,  might  be  pointed 
out    in    poems    less    definitely    infused    with   occult 
inspiration  than  The  Ancient  Sage,  but  the  broad  con- 
clusion to  be  derived  from  them  all  is  sufficiently  well 
estabhshed.     The  deeper  mysteries  of  hfe  and  nature 
were  still  veiled  from  general  knowledge  during  the 
greater  part  of  Tennyson's  splendid  literary  activity. 
It  was  not  his  task  to  tear  down  the  veil  completely, 
nor  did  the  rifts  he  made  in  it  here  and  there  afford 
his  readers  anything  resembling  that  scientific  com- 
prehension of  great  natural  truths  lying  behind  it 
which  many  of  us  have  ultimately  reached.     This 
attainment  inaugurates  a  new  era  of  thought.     But 
Tennyson  intuitively  forecast  the  revelation  impending. 
And  perhaps  for  the  cultured  classes  of  this  period, 
slow  hitherto  to  appreciate  the  significance  of  the 
Higher    Occultism,    the   fact    that    its    development 
was  so  clearly  foreshadowed  in  the  writings  of  a  man 
so  universally  reverenced  as  Tennyson,  may  guide 
modern  sympathies   into  regions    of   thought  which 
they  might  never  have  explored  but  for  that  august 
leadership. 


CREEDS   MORE   OR   LESS   CREDIBLE 

Since    the    amusing    period    when    Bishop    Colenso 
discovered  that  the  hare  does  not  chew  the  cud — as 
the   author  of  the   Pentateuch   had   supposed — the 
"  Allegory,"  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  and  elsewhere, 
has  been  busy  chewing  the  primitive  faith  of  good 
people  previously  content   to   accept  statements  in 
the  Bible  as  necessarily  true,  even  when  somewhat 
surprising.     Tempers  were  often  lost  during  the  dis- 
cussions of  the  Colenso  and  Darwin  days,  but  Allegory 
has  proved  a  more  good-humoured  beast  than  he  was 
thought  to  be  at  first,  so  that  critics  and  the  Church 
can  give  and  take  now  with  a  superficial  pretence  of 
being  friends  in  reality.     Beyond  this,  indeed,  the 
attitudes  of  mind  on  both  sides  are  undergoing  change. 
The  ribald   scoffer   is   extinct.    The  D.D.  who  still 
attributes  the  sufferings  of  the  world  to  Eve's  con- 
versation with  the  Serpent  hides  quietly  in  cathedral 
towns.     Science  and  Theology  are  on  the  terms  that 
Talleyrand  described  as  established  between  himself 
and  the  Host,  when  he  raised  his  hat  to  a  Roman 
Catholic    procession:     "  Nous    nous    saluons    mais 
nous  ne  parlous  pas."    And  happily  these  relations 
are  still  improving.    Science,  of  the  old  materialistic 
order,  has  had  to  endure  many  shocks  of  late.     A 
police  magistrate  some  years  ago  refused  to  believe 
overwhelming  testimony  in  favour  of  a  spiritualist 
medium  on  the  ground  that  it  was  contrary  to  the 
known  laws  of  Nature.     The  members  of  the  Roya 
Society  are  no  longer  so  sure  of  having  completely 
,«atalogued  those  laws.    And  the  doubt  makes  them 

93 


94      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

even  respectful  to  the  theory  of  miracles.  Alter  all, 
turning  water  into  wine  is  child's  play  compared  with 
the  miracle  accomplished  whenever  artificial  incuba- 
tion turns  an  egg  into  a  chicken.  People  who  still 
disbelieve  in  the  phenomena  of  genuine  spiritualism — 
as  puzzling  as  any  records  in  Christian  story — must 
guard  their  ignorance  very  carefully  if  they  wish  to 
preserve  their  opinions.  Science  in  all  directions 
is  negotiating  with  the  unseen,  and  the  wise  church- 
man realizes  that  some  concessions  on  his  part  may 
lead  to  a  settled  peace,  promising  protection  for 
institutions  and  substantial  interests  he  sometimes 
felt  to  be  in  danger  from  the  battering  ram.  Already 
there  is  an  entente  more  or  less  cordiale  between  the 
enlightened  Free  Thinker — shedding  the  folly  of 
denying  whatever  he  does  not  understand — and  the 
churchman  who  knows  that  he  must  adapt  his  faith 
to  the  uniformities  of  Nature,  that  it  is  often  unsafe 
to  insist  that  "  sacred  "  writings  always  mean  what 
they  seem  to  say. 

But  questions  have  arisen  that  are  more  em- 
barrassing than  the  reconciliation  of  Scripture  with 
obvious  physical  facts.  And  these  challenge  state- 
ments that  cannot  take  sanctuary  in  any  theory  of 
Divine  inspiration.  The  language  of  the  Creeds  must 
at  all  events  be  ascribed  to  human  authorship.  This 
is  complicated  and  to  some  extent  obscure,  but  in 
criticizing  the  Creeds  we  are  not  in  trouble  with  any 
theory  of  verbal  inspiration  from  Divine  levels. 
The  Revised  Version  of  the  Bible — humbly  attempting 
to  correct  a  few  gross  errors  of  translation — has 
(according  to  a  famihar  anecdote)  been  treated  with 
faint  praise  by  a  sturdy  exponent  ofjthe  early  faith 
who  preferred  "  God's  own  words. 'x  But  the  words 
adopted  to  define  Christian  belief  at  Nicsea  in  a. d.  325 
were  simply  those  of  certain  bishops,  who  prevailed 
over  other  bishops  desirous  of  using  different  words, 


Creeds  More  or  Less  Credible  95 

so  we  cannot  well  bring  inspiration  into  the  sto n^r 
Again,  the  Nicene  Creed  was  preceded  by  an  extensive 
"  creed  literature  " — to  use  the  phrase  of  an  orthodox 
writer,  though  it  would  be  scarcely  possible  now 
to  identify  any  writing  as  the  first  attempt  to  put 
Christian  belief  on  paper.  Nor  does  the  importance 
of  the  subject  at  the  present  time  turn  upon  its 
historical  aspect.  The  question  arising  is  this:  Do 
the  Creeds,  as  they  are  put  into  the  mouths  of  people 
who  attend  church  at  the  present  day,  express  beliefs 
they  can  possibly  be  expected  to  entertain  ?  The 
question  may  fairly  be  described  as  having  arisen, 
because  it  has  been  recently  the  subject  of  corres- 
pondence in  The  Times*^  Canon  Glazebrook  in  a 
book  called  The  Faith  of  a  Modern  Churchman  says 
that  the  clauses  in  the  Apostles'  Creed — "  Born  of 
the  Virgin  Mary  "  and  "  The  third  day  He  rose  again 
from  the  dead  " — can  legitimately  be  interpreted 
"  symbolically."  The  Bishop  of  Ely,  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  Canon  Glazebrook  and  also  published  in 
The  Times,  refuses  to  accept  this  view,  and  supports 
his  refusal  by  quoting  a  resolution  adopted  by  "  the 
bishops  of  the  whole  Anglican  Communion  assembled 
at  the  Lambeth  Conference  in  1908,"  which  runs  as 
follows:  "The  Conference  in  view  of  tendencies 
widely  shown  in  writings  of  the  present  day  hereby 
places  on  record  its  conviction  that  the  historical  facts 
stated  in  the  Creeds  are  an  essential  part  of  the  faith 
of  the  Church."  Canon  Glazebrook,  in  a  long  letter 
published  in  The  Times  of  May  21,  does  not  argue 
the  question  on  its  merits  but  quotes  episcopal 
sayings  that  deprecate  undue  limitations  on  freedom 
of  thought  and  inquiry,  and  attributes  to  the  Bishop 
of  Oxford  a  view  of  the  Ascension  which  he  summarizes 
in  thia^way:  XOur  Lord  could  not,  for  astronomical 
reasons  of  which  the  disciples  were  ignorant  ,physically 
ascend  into  Heaven.     But  in  order  give  to  them  a 


96      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

right  conception  of  His  change  of  state  He  rose  to  a 
moderate  height  in  the  air,  and  then  so  veiled  Himself 
behind  a  cloud  that  they  believed  Him  to  have  gone 
right  up  into  the  vault  of  the  sky^^j^li  the  Bishop 
is  fairly  represented  by  this  summary  the  suggestion 
needs  expansion.  What  was  the  later  course  of 
events  ?  When  our  Lord,  having  deluded  His 
disciples  in  the  manner  described,  wanted  to  come 
down  again,  how  did  He  conceal  His  reappearance  ? 
But  while  the  Bishop's  hypothesis  tempts  further 
comment,  this  might  seem  wanting  in  due  reverence 
for  the  main  idea  concerned,  so  no  more  on  that 
subject  need  be  said  for  the  moment. 

And  yet  that  line  of  speculation  in  reference  to 
alleged  occurrences  that  outrage  common  sense,  is  one 
into  which  it  is  easy  to  be  driven  if  people  are  content 
to  think  of  Nature  as  simply  consisting  of  that  which 
appeals  to  the  five  senses,  even  though  the  whole 
may  be  vaguely  regarded  as  bathed  in  spiritual  con- 
ditions intangible  as  Thought,  out  of  relation  with 
Space  or  Time,  offering  nothing  to  the  imagination  that 
can  prefigure  a  future  existence,  except  of  a  kind  to  be 
spoken  of  with  bated  breath  and  avoided  as  long  as 
possible.  Only  for  those,  happily  a  large  and  in- 
creasing number,  who  comprehend  more  or  less  com- 
pletely the  intervening  conditions  of  Nature  lying 
between  the  dense  manifestation  of  the  physical 
plane  and  the  "incomprehensible"  (though  not  less 
real)  conditions  of  exalted  planes — only  by  virtue  of 
their  superior  enlightenment  is  it  possible  to  get  rid 
— first  of  the  dread  commonly  connected  with  the 
process  of  passing  on,  and  secondly  of  the  embarrass- 
ment arising  from  occasional  occurrences  which 
without  such  enlightenment  must  either  be  dis- 
believed in  defiance  of  evidence  or  dealt  with  by 
some  grotesquely  foolish  explanation. 

That  idea  applies  very  forcibly  to  the  study  of  the 


Creeds  More  or  Less  Credible  97 

Creeds.  The  writers  who  reduced  them  to  their 
present  shape  may  have  been  using  physical  plane 
language  in  a  metaphorical  sense,  or  they  may  simply 
have  swallowed  without  hesitation  statements  absurd 
on  their  face.  But  in  either  case  we  have  to  recognize, 
in  the  light  of  modern  occult  knowledge,  that  some- 
where in  the  back  history  of  the  Creeds  such  knowledge 
must  have  been  in  the  possession  of  some  person  or 
persons  who  inspired  the  earliest  writers  on  the 
subject.  And  we  reach,  with  the  same  confidence, 
the  conclusion  that  current  versions  of  the  Creeds 
have  been  the  product  of  painfully  clumsy  editing. 
Such  work  could  only  have  been  carried  out  properly 
by  editors  saturated  with  knowledge  of  natural 
conditions  unseen  by  the  multitude,  while  the  actual 
editors  were  certainly  not  of  that  type^^As  a  mere 
first  illustration  of  that  idea  we  may  take  the  few 
words  in  the  Apostles'  Creed  about  the  Resurrection 
and  the  Ascension:  **  The  third  day  He  rose  again 
from  the  dead ;  He  ascended  into  heaven  and  sitteth 
on  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father,"  etc.  For 
people  who  can  only  think  of  a  Being  still  in  touch 
with  the  Earth  as  of  human  flesh  and  bones,  the  state- 
ment must  either  be  rejected  altogether  as  fabulous, 
or  must  lead  to  conceptions  which,  followed  out  in 
detail,  are  deplorably  degrading^  But  directly  we 
begin  to  understand  how  human  personalities  may 
function  in  full  consciousness,  after  escaping  (for  a 
time  or  for  good)  from  imprisonment  in  the  physical 
body — functioning  in  another  available  vehicle,  the 
astral  body — we  see  light  shed  on  alleged  phenomena 
otherwise  inexplicable.  Many  of  us  know  now  that 
natural  law  even^ro vides  for  the  temporary  materiaUza- 
tion  of  the  astral  form  so  that  it  may  become  apparent 
to  physical  senses.  The  story  of  the  Ascension  thus 
comes  within  the  range  of  comprehensible  occur- 
rences, even  if  we  make  no  attempt  to  interpret  it 

7 


98      Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

b  y  more  profound  thinking  in  another  way  alto- 
gether. 

Perhaps  to  understand  its  origin  properly  we  must 
pay  attention  first  to  the  ritual  adopted  in  ancient 
Egypt  in  connection  with  initiation  in  the  Mysteries, 
ages  before  the  Christian  era.  The  candidate  lay 
down  on  a  great  wooden  cross  hollowed  out  so  as  to 
support  the  figure ;  was  bound  on  it  (quite  loosely 
so  as  to  suggest  the  voluntary  character  of  the 
sacrifice)  and  then  was  put  (mesmerically)  into  a  deep 
trance  which  involved  the  emergence  from  the  body 
of  his  real  consciousness  in  the  astral  form.  The 
body  was  then  deposited  in  a  sarcophagus,  to  typify 
burial-.  In  the  astral  body  the  real  entity  was 
confronted  with  varied  experiences  educating  him 
in  the  idea  that  he — the  real  entity — was  beyond  the 
reach  of  injury  from  fire,  water,  or  even  the  subtler 
perils  of  the  under- world.  Then,  on  the  third  day 
the  physical  body  was  brought  up  into  the  light  of  the 
sunrise,  and  its  "  resurrection  " — the  return  to  it 
of  the  real  Ego — was  accomplished . 

Followed  out  more  closely,  the  Egyptian  ceremony 
included  other  super-physical  suggestions  that  may 
have  been  in  the  mind  of  those  who  sketched  the 
earliest  draft  of  the  Creed.  Before  being  awakened 
the  candidate  had  touch,  out  of  the  body,  with  sublime 
levels  of  consciousness,  as  definitely  an  ascent  into 
heaven  as  the  under-world  experiences  were  a  descent 
into  hell.  The  under-world  in  question  is,  of  course, 
only  a  part,  a  low  subdivision,  of  the  enormous  astral 
world  that  surrounds  the  physical  globe,  and  is 
growing  familiar  in  these  days  to  many  explorers. 
Its  loftier  realms  are  widely  expanded  regions  that 
provide  for  happy  conditions  of  life,  and  for  happy 
conditions  as  varied  as  there  are  variations,  amongst 
people  still  in  life  of  aspirations  pointing  to  happiness. 
'*How  did  it  come  to  pass  that  allusions  to  the  ritual 


Creeds  More  or  Less  Credible  99 

of  the  Egyptian  Mysteries  found  their  way  into  the 
Christian  Creed  'yTo  frame  a  conjecture  we  must 
begin  by  reahzing  that  the  Egyptian  ceremonial 
was  itself  an  allegory  based  on  fundamental  ideas 
connected  with  the  science  of  human  evolution — fully 
understood  by  those  who  invented  the  ritual.  We 
can  see  this  hinting  at  the  ordeal  of  suffering  incidental 
to  the  physical  life,  at  the  possibility  of  further 
suffering  in  the  under-world  as  the  penalty  of  evil-doing 
here,  at  the  restful  touch  with  happier  conditions  (the 
ascent  into  heaven),  at  the  return  to  Earth-life  after 
this — the  resurrection  or  more  literally  the  rein- 
carnation of  the  Ego.  Whoever  infused  into  that 
early  "  creed  literature  "  the  first  suggestion  for  a 
formula  of  belief  must  have  had  the  Egyptian  allegory 
in  his  mind,  together  with  a  perfect  comprehension 
of  its  deep  meaning,  as  also  embodied  in  the  Christian 
story. 

For  many  reasons  besides  those  that  have  to  do 
with  the  illumination  of  the  Creeds,  it  is  deplorable 
that  the  clergy  at  large  do  not  avail  themselves  of 
growing  knowledge  concerning  the  unseen  worlds, 
which  might  enable  them  in  turn  to  become  more  or 
less  competent  spiritual  teachers.  Some  few  are 
emerging  from  the  stagnant  majority,  but  for  the  rest 
to  pose  as  experts  in  dealing  with  the  interests  of 
humanity  lying  outside  those  of  the  current  life^ 
\yhile  remaining  ignorant  of  all  that  is  now  becoming 
known  concerning  the  life  hereafter,  is  like  claiming 
to  practise  as  a  doctor  without  knowing  more  about 
the  human  body  tharf  was  known  to  the  barber- 
surgeons  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Even  the  humblest 
spiritualist  has  realized  that  life  hereafter  is  accessible 
to  investigation.  He  may  investigate  very  clumsily 
His  grasp  even  of  the  main  idea  may  be  very  incom- 
plete, but  he  knows  that  he  is  in  touch  with  another 
plane  of  existence;  that  death,  for  all  decent  people 


loo     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

is  an  introduction  to  life  of  a  more  promising  kind 
than  that  which  the  physical  plane  provides  for  as  a 
rule.  The  average  clergyman,  meanwhile,  will  not 
avail  himself  of  the  means  by  which  he — with  a  more 
cultivated  mind — might  not  only  realize  this  much, 
but  expand  his  comprehension  of  the  ultimate  spiritual 
possibilities  awaiting  humanity,  to  an  enormous 
extent.  If  it  were  not  so  profoundly  distressing  there 
would  be  something  supremely  ludicrous  in  the 
spectacle  of  a  vast  organization,  whose  raison  d'etre 
is  the  general  human  thirst  for  guidance  in  spiritual 
thought,  resolutely  keeping  aloof  from  avenues  of 
research  proved  by  abundant  experience  to  be  richly 
stored  with  spiritual  wisdom  for  all  who  explore  them . 

This  view  of  the  matter  will  become  more  and  more 
impressive  when  attention  is  turned  to  those  passages 
in  the  Creeds  which  relate  to  the  Virgin  Birth.  For 
those  who  only  can  think  in  terms  of  physical  plane 
matter,  the  Virgin  Birth  seems  to  strain  imagination 
less  than  an  ascent  to  heaven  by  a  tangible  flesh-and- 
blood  Christ.  Birth  of  any  sort  is  a  mystery.  A 
virgin  birth  would  be  only  a  little  more  mysterious 
than  one  of  the  ordinary  kind.  But  the  first  thought 
that  suggests  a  pause  for  reflection  arises  from  the 
undeniable  fact  that  othe^- religions  before  Christianity 
claim  virgin  births  foTydieir  founders.  ^  Is  this  merely 
due  to  a  pious  desirpan  each  case  to  dignify  the  origin 
of  the  founder,  o;r  can  it  bear  a  more  intricate  ex- 
planation ?  TMs  is  certainly  the  case  in  reference  to 
the  adaptatipri  of  the  familiar  doctrine  to  the  Christian 
story.  Tq 'get  at  the  actual  truth  hinted  at  meta- 
phorically by  the  virgin  birth  idea,  we  must  go  rather 
deeply  into  modern  developments  of  super-physical 
science. 

By  its  help  we  are  enabled  to  recognize  the  creative 
achievement,  when  a  Solar  System  comes  into 
existence,  as  involving  successive  processes :  first  the 


Creeds  More  or  Less  Credible  loi 

formation  of  molecular  matter  from  the  atomic  raw 
material  pervading  all  space.  We  need  not  talk  about 
the  origin  of  that,  any  more  than  about  the  beginning 
of  eternity.  But  a  Solar  System  has  a  beginning  and 
a  destiny.  It  is  an  episode  in  eternity,  and  the 
creation  of  a  world  is  an  episode  within  the  enor- 
mously protracted  life  of  a  Solar  System.  Molecular 
matter  constituting  in  its  various  aspects  the  chemical 
elements  (as  they  used  to  be  called)  becomes  available 
for  the  formation  of  a  globe  destined  to  be  a  living 
planet.  We  see  the  process  still  going  on  in  the 
growth  of  nebulae  with  which  the  heavens  abound. 
At  a  later  stage  Divine  power  pours  out  from  itself 
t  he  life  principle .  The  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms 
come  into  existence.  Later,  again,  when  the  human 
stage  is  reached,  a  further  emanation  from  divinity 
invests  definite  beings  with  what  is  sometimes  called 
"the  Divine  Spark,"  with  that  which  renders  such 
beings  immortal,  capable  of  developing  through 
successive  Earth-lives  the  loftier  attributes  of  intellect 
and  spirituality.  The  three  stages  are  described  by 
many  phrases:  sometimes  as  three  waves  of  Atmic 
influence;  sometimes  as  the  first,  second,  and  third 
Logos;  sometimes  as  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost. 

Now  when  we  attempt  to  see  how  this  view  of 
creation  affects  the  language  of  the  Apostles'  and 
Nicene  Creeds,  we  have  to  keep  touch  with  another 
line  of  thought.  The  history  of  the  Creeds  points  to 
a  definite  human  origin,  bu|L  the  hints  their  language 
embodies  point  (as  already  suggested)  to  inspiration 
from  a  lofty  source  of  wisdom ;  while  it  also  betrays 
the  corruption  of  such  hints  as  successive  versions 
have  been  prepared.  Lofty  wisdom  has  always  lain 
hidden  in  the  hands  of  the  Elder  Brethren  of  the 
race,  who  well  knew  that  primitive  conditions  of 
civilization  would  not  allow  of  its  general  diffusion. 


102     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

The  general  diffusion,  however,  of  large  extracts 
from  it  is  now  in  progress,  taking  shape  in  the  Higher 
Occultism  of  recent  years.  Thus  we  can  now  discern 
in  much  ancient  writing  of  a  religious  character  the 
streak  of  inspiration  and  the  superposed  blundering 
of  unenhghtened  transmitters  of  the  inspiration. 
The  passage  in  the  Apostles'  Creed  about  the  Virgin 
Birth  is  a  thrilling  example  of  both  influences. 
The  adjedti^  "  virgin  "  has  been  applied  in  very 
ancient  literature  to  matter,  as  due  to  the  action  of  the 
First  Logos,  or  the'^st  creative  way€.  Only  when — 
after  intervening  develbpment— ^^itr'is  touched  with  the 
Third  Logos  (or  Holy  dT'w^y'  can  it  engender  the 
Christ  principle.  That  id^'gets  twisted,  by  primitive 
ignorance  capable  only- of  thought  along  the  lines  of 
the  physical  senses, into  the  idea  of  a  conception  by  a 
woman  free  of  die  conditions  that  generally  give  rise 
to  conception/And  then  in  the  Nicene  Creed  we  get 
the  gross  misunderstanding  developed  into  the  un- 
fortunate expression,  "  the  only-begotten  Son  of 
God." 

How  does  this  subtle  interpretation  of  the  familiar 
language  fit  in  with  the  Gospel  story  which  the  Creeds 
seem  to  follow  ?  The  literal  accuracy  of  that  story 
has  been  challenged  by  critics  who  object  to  miracles, 
and  nothing  that  can  be  called  contemporary  authentic 
history  affords  it  any  sanction;  but  from  the  occult 
point  of  view — that  is  to  say,  from  the  point  of  view 
of  knowledge  that  relies  on  something  much  more 
trustworthy  than  written  history — the  story  is  con- 
templated in  a  deeply  reverential  spirit,  but  is  not 
treated  throughout  as  a  mere  record  of  occurrences. 
The  occultist  has  resources  at  his  disposal  when 
investigating  the  past  that  leave  mere  literary  re- 
search panting  in  the  rear.  The  principle  is  intel- 
ligible to  all  who  appreciate  the  significance  of 
clairvoyance,  in  some  of  its  suggestive  developments. 


Creeds  More  or  Less  Credible  103 

One  kind  enables  the  clairvoyant  to  take  cognizance  of 
events  going  on  at  the  time  in  some  distant  place. 
Another  kind  deals  with  events  distant  in  past  time. 
There  is  a  memory  of  Nature  in  which  some  clair- 
voyants can  share,  and  that  is  faultless  in  its  ex- 
actitude.    Clairvoyants  who  can  do  this  while  living 
the  ordinary  life  among  us  are  few,  but  now  that  the 
veil  between  ourselves  and  the  Masters  of  Wisdom, 
our    Elder    Brethren,   the   Great   Adepts,    has    been 
lowered  to  an  appreciable  extent,  many  others  besides 
clairvoyants  are  in  touch  with  Teachers  for  whom 
perfect  clairvoyance  in  time  is  as  much  a  natural 
faculty  as  common  physical  sight  with  us.     Thus  we 
need  not  be  all  dependent,  when  desirous  of  knowing 
what  really  happened  in  Palestine  when  Christianity 
was    inaugurated,    on     Alexandrian     writers     who 
endeavoured  to  frame  the  record  some  centuries  later. 
The   memory   of   Nature   may   discredit   the   literal 
accuracy  of  that  record   without   impairing  in   the 
faintest  degree  the  reverential  feeling  with  which  we 
contemplate  the  inauguration. ^> The  sublimity  of  the 
Christ  incarnation  is  all  the  better  understood  when 
we  get  rid  of  the  idea  that  Jesus  when  a  baby  was 
already  the  Christ.     No  great  spiritual  being,  taking 
a  new  physical  plane  birth  for  any  reason  or  definite 
purpose,   ever   takes   charge  of  the  new  body  from 
infancy.     That  is  done  by  one  of  his  disciples.     At 
maturity  the  disciple  quits  the  body  and  the  Master 
Ego  occupies  it.     Most  people  at  the  present  day 
are  so  densely  ignorant  of  their  own  constitution  that 
they  may  regard  the  idea  as  bewildering.     At  a  certain 
level  of  knowledge  the  body  is  no  more  than  a  vesture 
to  be  put  on  or  off  as  occasion  may  require. 

In  the  case  of  the  Christ  incarnation  the  Ego  who 
took  charge  of  the  body  in  the  first  instance  was 
indeed  of  no  ordinary  type.  And  through  later  births 
Jesus  (if  we  cling  to  the  use  of  the  old  name)  has 


I04     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

ascended  to  great  altitudes  in  the  Divine  Hierarchy. 
But  the  Christ,  who  made  use  of  the  body  he  sur- 
rendered in  Palestine,  descended  for  that  purpose  from 
a  loftier  altitude  still. 

The  bundle  of  miscellaneous  statements  at  the 
end  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  also  imbedded  in  the 
Nicene  Creed,  need  not  claim  much  attention  except 
so  far  as  "  the  resurrection  of  the  body  "  has  been  a 
stumbling-block  for  all  who  realize  the  gros^  absurdity 
of  the  phrase  in  its  plain  meaning,  and  may  not 
understand  that  the  astral  body  is  that  which  re- 
surges.  But  if  we  pass  on  to  a  consideration  of  the 
third  great  Creed  with  which  orthodox  Christianity 
is  entangled,  we  have  to  deat  with  a  blend  of  wisdom 
and  folly  that  is  very  well^orth  the  closest  attention . 
In  its  naked  brutality'the  Athanasian  Creed  drives 
many  people  out  of  pmirches  in  which  it  is  read  aloud. 
Some  clergymen  ;»^11  not  consent  to  read  it  at  all. 
Others,  whose  o;?tnodoxy  is  equal  to  the  digestion  of  any 
horrors  clothea  in  theological  tradition,  are  able  to 
do  so.  Medjiwhile  those  in  a  position  to  reconstruct 
the  teaching  ludicrously  caricatured  by  the  language 
of  the-' Athanasian  Creed  may  easily  divest  it  of  its 
blasphemous  absurdities  and  show  it  to  have  been 
originally  inspired  by  profound  wisdom  and  know- 
ledge. 

Summarized  as  it  stands  it  consists  of  a  series  of 
assertions  that  contradict  one  another,  together  with 
a  broad  assurance  that  all  who  fail  to  believe  them 
both  ways  will  be  damned.  "  Perish  everlastingly  " 
is  the  expression  used  at  first,  but  a  reference  later  on 
to  "  everlasting  fire  "  invests  it  with  more  specific 
meaning.  To  avoid  this  fate  we  have  to  believe  a 
tring  of  assertions  frankly  described  as  incom- 
prehensible. Strange  to  say,  it  is  easy  for  any  one 
who  has  profited  by  the  light  thrown  in  recent  years 
on  the  course  of  human  evolution  to  discern,  behind 


Creeds  More  or  Less  Credible  105 

the  gibberish  of  the  Athanasian  Creed  as  it  stands, 
the  profoundly  scientific  ideas  that  some  exalted 
teacher  of  the  past  must  have  tried  to  suggest  to  some 
insufficiently  receptive  mind  engaged  in  the  effort 
to  express  them .  For  there  is  a  period  in  the  history  of 
every  great  human  race  (ours  is  only  one  of  many) 
when  the  state  of  each  person's  "  belief,"  or  capacity 
to  understand  deep  spiritual  truth,  has  an  important 
bearing  on  his  subsequent  progress.  The  Solar 
System  includes  other  human  races  besides  our  own. 
Various  planets  represent  humanities  at  various  stages 
of  growth.  Super-physical  faculties  even  far  below 
those  of  "  the  Masters  of  Wisdom  "  (now  for  the  first 
time  in  this  world's  history  giving  out  such  informa- 
tion freely)  reveal  the  design  of  the  Solar  System. 
Another  planet  was  senior  to  the  Earth  in  its  develop- 
ment, and  its- humanity  is  already  on  a  far  higher 
level  of  evolution  than  our  own.  But  human  evolu- 
tion is  not  a  process  in  which  superior  Divine  power 
pushes  the  pieces  about,  chessboard  fashion,  without 
regard  to  their  own  free  will.  jThe  way  in  which  this 
sometimes  seems  to  be  done"  is  at  the  bottom  of  a 
hideous  theological  fancy,  as  grotesque  as  the 
language  of  the  Athanasian  Creed,  to  the  effect  that 
by  Divine  caprice  some  souls  are  "  elect  "  from  the 
beginning,  and  sure  of  salvation  from  hell-fire ;  others 
as  surely  destined  from  the  beginning  to  that  fate. 
But  what  really  happens  is  this :  some  use  their  i 
free  will  to  accomplish  spiritual  progress  of  infinite 
importance.  Others  neglect  their  opportunities  so 
persistently  that  they  are  left  behind;  not  doomed 
to  any  horrible  penalties,  not  annihilated  as  entities, 
but  left  to  carry  on  their  evolution,  if  they  are  willing 
to  do  so,  in  the  next  great  planetary  scheme  following  . 
on  in  due  order  after  the  one  they  have  failed  to 
profit  by  to  its  fullest  extent.  Of  course,  it  is  im- 
possible that  anyone  can  begin  to  understand  all  this 


^ 


io6     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

without  realizing  the  law  of  reincarnation  as  clearly 
as  we  all  realize  the  circulation  of  the  blood  or  any 
other  fundamental  principle  of  Nature.  But  the 
appreciation  of  that  law  corresponds  to  the  state 
reached  by  a  child  learning  to  read,  when  he  has 
mastered  the  alphabet. 

y  ^  Now  in  the  light  simply  of  the  principle  just  defined 
'*as  guiding  successive  human  evolutions  in  the  Solar 
System,  we  see  in  a  flash  the  underlying  idea  cari- 
catured by  the  language  of  the  Athanasian  Creed. 
Translate  first  the  phrase  "  Whosoever  will  be  saved  " 
from  the  blasphemous  meaning — saved  from  hell- 
fire — to  that  clearly  intended  by  the  original  inspirer : 
"  Whosoever  would  be  safe  from  failure  to  attain  the 
highest  possibilities  of  his  place  in  Nature,"  must 
"  believe  "  or,  in  equivalent  language,  train  himself 
to  understand,  certain  great  subtleties  of  spiritual 
truth  which  frankly  for  the  physical  brain  at  an  early 
stage  of  its  development  are  incomprehensible — 
I.e.,  beyond  its  grasp.  Physical,  mental,  and  moral 
evolution  proceed  concurrently.  In  a  world  at  a  far 
more  advanced  stage  than  our  Earth  has  yet  reached, 
the  majority  of  the  Egos  (Souls,  spiritual  entities, 
call  them  what  you  will)  are  engendering  bodies 
adapted  to  express  Egos  of  similar  advancement. 
What  is  to  be  done,  by  the  Powers  that  guide  and 
control  incarnations,  with  the  Egos  that  have  been  so 
neglectful  of  their  past  opportunities  that  they  are  not 
fit  to  animate  the  bodies  of  the  kind  that  are  being 
born  ?  The  Powers  in  question — and  for  the  occultist 
they  are  conscious  Beings  on  a  very  high  level — can 
only  do  one  thing  with  them — pass  them  on  to  the 
scheme  of  human  evolution  next  in  order  of  develop- 
ment. \  In  other  words,  they  have  as  a  consequence 
of  their  own  neglect  incurred  the  inevitable  necessity 
lof  beginning  again.  They  are  not  destined  to  perish 
everlastingly,  but  they  are  thrown  back  in  evolution 


Creeds  More  or  Less  Credible  107 

for  a  long  period.  All  Oriental  writings — and  our 
*'  sacred  "  scriptures  including  the  Creeds  are  saturated 
with  the  methods  of  Oriental  writers — are  prone  to 
use  words  like  "  eternity  "  and  "  everlasting  "  as 
indicating  any  long  period  they  are  talking  about, 
and  not  as  we  do — with  a  specific  mathematical  idea 
behind  them. 

Vastly  more  than  the  difficulty  of  reconciling  the 
triple   aspect   of  Divinity  with   the  essential   unity 
thereof  is  hinted  at  by  the  inspirer  of  the  Athanasian 
Creed,  whose  clumsy  interpreters  have  been  content 
to  hammer  at  the  one  problem  of  recognizing  trinity 
in  unity.     But  the  elaboration  of  the  teaching  the 
inspirer   sought    to    convey   would   only    have   been 
possible  for  writers  fully  illuminated  with  knowledge 
then  "  occult  "  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  term. 
Early   theologians   were   certainly   not   among   such 
illuminati,  and  those  responsible  for  the  language  af 
the  Creed  before  us  were  so  ill  able  to  discriminate 
between  credibility  and  absurdity,  that  they  wove 
into  their  work  thKmost  loathsomely  ridiculous  view 
of  the  Resurrection\hat  any  of  the.  Creeds  suggest. 
Christ  is  described  as  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father  "  at  whose  coming^ll  meii  shall  rise  again  with 
their  bodies,  and  shall  giV^  account  of  their  own 
works,"  with  life  or  damnation  everlasting  as  the  only 
varieties  of  treatment  available  for  their  respective 
cases.     And  yet  a  ^ittle  progress  in  super-physical 
knowledge,    avail^le   now   for   all    who    will   profit 
by  current  revelation,  invests  the  idea  of  the  Resur- 
rection with  poetical  charm.     The  astral  body,  which 
rises  again/fn  every  case  when  a  discarded  physical 
body  mel^s  away  into  its  constituent    elements,  is 
susceptible    of    a    wonderfully    beautifying  change. 
Leave  the  evil-doers  out  of  account  for  the  moment — 
the  very  bad  cases  have  to  be  dealt  with  for  a  time 
in  an  appropriate  fashion — as  regards  the  vast  majority 


io8     Collected  Fruits  or  Occult  Teaching 

of  decently  behaved  people,  even  though  life  may 
have  dragged  on  till  the  physical  vehicle  is  withered 
and  destitute  of  all  the  graces  of  its  youth,  the  astral 
body,  in  which  the  Ego  passes  away  from  it,  soon 
undergoes  a  change  the  exact  reverse  of  growing  old 
on  the  physical  plane.  The  old  man  or  woman  finds 
him  or  her  self  restored  in  appearance  to  the  aspect 
worn  in  whatever  has  been  the  best  period  of  the  life 
concluded.  All  who  are  in  touch  with  the  astral 
world — the  first  super-physical  aspect  of  the  Earth — 
will  be  familiar  with  such  changes;  which,  moreover, 
in  the  case  of  people  who  have,  in  the  course  of  a  long 
life,  far  transcended  the  mental  and  spiritual  con- 
dition of  what  may  have  been  physically  their  best 
period,  wall  somehow  show  by  new  expression  in  that 
recovered  best  period  the  mental  and  spiritual 
attributes  imperfectly  developed  during  the  Earth-life. 
It  is  sad  to  think  that  multitudes  of  innocent  people 
are  allowed  by  ignorant  teachers  to  grovel  with  the 
foulest  misconception  oft  a  beautiful  natural  truth, 
when  they  ought  to  be  instructed  in  the  exquisite 
charm  of  the  arrangements  made  by  natural  law — 
in  other  words  by  Divine  love — for  their  happiness 
and  welfare  between  successive  lives  (as  they  ought 
to  be)  of  strenuous  effort  on  the  physical  plane. 

And  that  same  idea  spreads  over  the  whole  area 
of  conventional  religious  teaching.  Creeds  incredible 
as  they  stand  are  matched  by  theological  doctrines 
that  degrade  the  popular  understanding,  even  when 
refined  away  to  some  extent  by  cultivated  thinking, 
and  represent  the  Divine  nature  capable  of  an  anger 
so  ignoble  that  it  can  be  appeased  by  innocent  blood- 
shed. The  subhme  Christian  story  in  this  way  gets 
itself  twisted  into  a  shape  in  which  it  is  offensive 
to  any  lofty  conception  of  the  Divine  nature.  Must 
the  authorities  of  the  Church  go  on  ad  infinitum, 
afraid  to  attempt  a  drastic  revision  of  the  language 


Creeds  More  or  Less  Credible  109 

employed  in  its  services,  for  fear  lest  the  whole 
ecclesiastical  structure  should  fall  in  ruins  as  a  conse- 
quence ?  Tf  that  fear  checks  them,  the  fact  only- 
shows  how  utterly  they  misunderstand  the  drift  of 
enlightened  spiritual  teaching,  available  for  all,  now 
the  veil  has  been  drawn  aside  from  what  was  previously 
occult.  The  wave  of  interest  in  that  enlightenment  is 
sweeping  all  over  the  civilized  world.  And  far  from 
making  people  hostile  to  the  theory  of  an  established 
Church,  it  makes  them  think  how  beautiful  a  condition 
of  things  would  be  realized  if  the  Church  would  become 
a  true  spiritual  University,  representing  the  latest 
developments  of  super-physical  knowledge,  studying 
the  varied  conditions  of  life  during  and  beyond 
physical  incarnation,  the  possibilities  of  attainment 
inherent  in  humanity  and  the  stupendous  programme 
of  the  Cosmos  to  which  our  system  belongs.  In  all 
lines  of  study  with  which  intelligence  can  engage, 
if  the  mysteries  of  Nature  are  concerned,  progress  is 
obviously  the  bright  lure  of  the  future,  stagnation 
an  absurdity.  And  yet  stagnation  in  thought  is 
cherished  as  a  principle  by  the  defenders  of  the  cut- 
and-dried  formulas  of  medieval  theology.  Such 
defence  can  hardly  be  designed  to  shield  faith;  its 
purpose  can  only  be  to  protect  the  institutions 
associated,  to  their  deep  discredit,  with  the  stagnant 
thought.  It  is  ridiculous  almost  beyond  the  reach 
of  sarcasm  that  professed  religious  teachers  should 
be  the  only  kind  who,  parrot-like,  repeat  their  lessons 
unchanged  from  year  to  year — a  senseless  articulation 
of  sound — while  out  in  the  world  ♦discovery  and 
illuminated  thought  are  widening  our  intellectual 
horizons  in  every  direction.  That  clearing  vision  of 
spiritual  truth  which  the  champions  of  stagnation 
cannot  dim  is  really  the  explanation  of  the  strange 
way  in  which  modern  civilization  tolerates  its  clergy. 
All  who  profit  by  the  growth  of  spiritual  knowledge 


1 1  o     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

feel  that  this  will  assuredly,  in  the  long  run,  permeate 
the  Church,  and  that,  once  emancipated  from 
medieval  fetters,  that  organization  may  be  destined 
to  a  magnificent  development.  The  trust  that  this 
may  be  possible  depends  perhaps  on  a  far-sighted 
view  of  the  future;  but  when  in  its  moral  progress 
civilization  deprived  orthodoxy  of  its  torture- 
chambers  and  the  stake,  a  change  set  in  which  may  be 
slow,  like  the  movement  of  a  glacier,  but  is  as  certain 
of  effect,  in  the  long  run,  as  the  glacier  flow,  and  will 
ultimately  turn  the  frozen  ice  into  a  dancing  river, 
sparkling  in  the  sunshine. 


IMPRISONED    IN   THE   FIVE  SENSES 

The  "  Palace  of  Art  "  was  replete  with  interest  and 
charm  for  its  mistress  up  to  a  certain  stage  in  her 
spiritual  evolution ;  but  a  time  came  when  she  found 
herself — though  still  in  its  luxurious  magnificence — 

Shut  up  as  in  a  crumbling  tomb,  girt  round 
With  blackness  as  a  solid  wall. 

An  emotion  loftier  than  the  thirst  for  pleasure  con- 
strained her  to  break  away  from  its  limitations,  and 
to  "  purge  her  guilt  "  in  a  wider  atmosphere  of 
sympathy  with  her  kind. 

Tennyson's  poetry  is  so  full  of  meaning  below  the 
surface  that  one  is  tempted  to  discern  a  deep  allegorical 
significance  in  the  lines  just  quoted  over  and  above 
their  obvious  bearing  on  the  plain  problems  of  human 
life — on  selfishness  and  sympathy.  For  all  humanity 
at  the  present  period  of  its  progress  is  shut  in  within 
the  shining  walls  of  its  gorgeous  artistic  and  scientific 
Palace,  the  contents  sufficing  amply  for  its  needs,  as 
long  as  it  is  satisfied  to  ignore  all  that  lies  beyond. 
The  walls  of  the  Palace  are  the  senses,  inherent  in  the 
vehicles  of  life  on  the  physical  plane.  As  long  as  they 
are  our  only  avenues  to  consciousness  they  are  not 
windows  through  which  we  gaze  out  into  ihfinity, 
but  dead  walls  confining  our  survey  of  Nature's 
mysteries  to  one  aspect  only  of  their  manifold  variety. 
Human  intelligence  of  the  usual  type  is,  in  truth, 
imprisoned  in  the  five  senses,  although  in  the  front 
already  stand  a  few  who  have  developed  new  senses 
which  reveal  the  existence  of  worlds  beyond  worlds 


112     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

in  endless  series,  and,  as  turned  back  on  the  past 
show  modern   civiUzation   but   just   emerging    from 
conditions  analogous  to  childhood. 

The  character  of  the  change  achieved  by  those 
illuminated  by  new  senses  may  best  be  compre- 
hended by  focussing  imagination  on  the  condition 
of  a  person  born  without  the  most  important  of  the 
five — the  sense  of  sight.  He  hears  from  others  of 
natural  phenomena  he  cannot  himself  cognize. 
Descriptions  will  not  help  him  to  realize  colour  or 
light.  He  will  not  understand  what  is  meant  by 
"  seeing  "  things  he  cannot  touch.  Then  grant  him 
by  a  miracle  the  gift  of  sight,  and  picture  in  the  mind 
the  complicated  revelation  that  ensues.  The  sudden 
endowment  of  an  ordinary  civilized  man  with  senses 
already  possessed  by  some  persons  in  the  vanguard  of 
human  progress  would  mean  a  revelation  of  even 
greater  significance  than  that  suggested  in  the  case  of 
the  man  born  blind.  The  liberation  of  consciousness 
from  previous  limitations  would  be  more  thrilling 
in  its  effect  than  any  change  that  could  take  place 
within  those  limitations.  Human  consciousness  in 
its  nature  is  qualified  to  give  scope  to  perceptions  all 
but  infinite  in  their  range.  But  with  the  ordinary 
run  of  mankind  any  given  volume  of  consciousness 
incarnate  in  a  human  being  can  only  deal  with  the 
fruit  of  the  familiar  senses.  Of  course  faith  and 
imagination  seem  to  yield  much  more,  but  are  cramped 
by  the  familiar  senses — as  shown  by  some  ludicrous 
features  of  anthropomorphic  religion.  For  practical 
purposes  the  senses  are  the  channels  through  which 
we  gain  knowledge.  When  we  guess  or  speculate 
along  other  channels,  the  mental  conception  of  one 
generation  is  apt  to  be  thrown  aside  by  the  next,  and 
the  history  of  Philosophy  becomes  an  amusing  cinema 
film,  that  can  hardly  be  called  a  kaleidoscope,  a 
there  is  not  much  beauty  about  it. 


Imprisoned  in  the  Five  Senses         1 1 3 

By  far  the  most  important  discoveries  which  reward 
the  efforts  of  those  who  escape  from  the  imprisonment 
of  the  senses  have  to  do  with  the  definite  possibilities 
of  spiritual  progress  associated  with  enlightenment 
that  may  be  attained  through  new  channels  of  per- 
ception. But  the  laws  and  phenomena  of  Nature  are 
not  really  divided  by  the  hard-and-fast  frontiers  that 
sense-perceptions  seem  to  define.  Grant  anyone 
amongst  us  certain  new  senses,  and  he  will  not  merely 
be  enabled  to  perceive  new  regions  of  existence  with 
appropriate  scenery  and  decorations,  brimming  over 
with  life  of  many  kinds,  but  will  find  the  familiar 
features  of  the  life  around  us  all — those  of  the  physical 
plane — much  more  full  of  meaning  than  they  seemed 
to  be  previously.  I  will  illustrate  this  statement  by 
describing  a  scientific  research  carried  on  within 
the  last  few  years  by  means  of  super-physical  senses, 
and  happily  involving  something  like  a  self-contained 
proof  of  its  conclusions. 

It  began  under  my  own  guidance,  when  working 
with  a  friend  brilliantly  endowed  with  super-physical 
senses.  I  had  found  that,  quite  independently  of 
results  they  gave  us  in  reference  to  higher  conditions 
of  life  beyond  the  change  called  death,  they  were 
ultra-microscopic  in  their  character  as  applied  to 
physical  nature.  Could  they  be  so  applied  as  to 
enable  my  friend  to  see  an  ultimate  molecule  of 
physical  matter  ?  The  magnitude  of  such  molecules 
is  so  minute  that  mathematical  calculations  with 
which,  among  others,  the  great  name  of  Lord  Kelvin 
is  associated,  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  thirty 
trillion  molecules  of  water  are  included  in  the  volume 
of  a  cubic  centimetre.  My  friend  undertook  to  try, 
and  I  suggested  a  molecule  of  gold  as  the  body  to  be 
examined.  My  friend  emerged  from  the  condition 
in  which  he  could  attempt  to  do  this,  declaring  that, 
although  the  molecules  of  gold  could  be  individually 

8 


114     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

discerned,  they  were  far  too  complicated  to  be 
described.  They  each  of  them  consisted  of  an 
intricate  combination  of  smaller  atoms  clearly  be- 
longing to  a  finer  order  of  matter.  This  observation 
led  me  to  suggest  that  perhaps  molecules  of  matter 
of  less  atomic  weight  than  gold  would  be  more 
manageable,  and  we  next  dealt  with  a  molecule  of 
hydrogen  gas.  This  was  found  to  be  composed  of 
atoms  like  those  of  the  gold  molecule,  but  relatively 
few  in  number.  They  could  be  counted.  They 
were  eighteen  in  number,  grouped  in  a  definite  design 
and  in  rapid  movement.  The  rapidity  of  their 
movement  did  not  interfere  with  the  counting,  for 
reasons  I  need  not  stop  now  to  explain. 

We  then  went  on  to  examine  a  molecule  of  oxygen. 
This  was  found  to  be  more  complicated,  but  still 
Within  the  reach  of  careful  counting.  The  number 
of  minor  atoms  was  290 — a  figure  the  significance 
of  which  was  at  once  seen  to  be  remarkable.  Divided 
by  18  it  gives  us  i6'i,  a  close  approximation  to  the 
recognized  atomic  weight  of  oxygen.  Atomic  weights, 
on  the  usual  scale,  are  calculated  on  the  principle  of 
reckoning  the  weight  of  an  atom  of  hydrogen  as  unity. 
The  relative  atomic  weights  of  other  bodies  are 
derived  from  calculations  dependent  on  their  varied 
combinations,  again  in  a  way  I  need  not  go  into  here, 
as  that  has  to  do  with  commonplace  chemistry.  Was 
the  ratio  1 8  to  290  operative  in  other  cases  ?  The 
atom  of  nitrogen  was  examined  and  found  to  consist 
of  214  minor  atoms.  That  again  gave  the  recognized 
atomic  weight  when  divided  by  18.  The  result  was 
extremely  suggestive,  but  did  not  yet  constitute  proof 
that  the  law  would  run  all  through  the  series  of  the 
so-called  chemical  elements.  Meanwhile  the  minor 
atoms  claimed  attention.  They  were  apparently 
the  really  ultimate  form  of  physical  matter — atoms 
of  ether,  themselves  below  the  limits  of  sense-per- 


Imprisoned  in  the  Five  Senses  1 1 5 

ception.  Only  when  in  combined  masses — if  the 
expression  can  be  used  in  reference  to  masses  so 
minute  as  the  atoms  of  the  chemical  elements — 
do  they  come  within  those  limits.  Thus  incidentally 
the  research  I  am  describing  brought  out  a  new 
discovery.  The  etheric  atoms  do  enter  into  com- 
bination in  numbers  less  than  18,  but  then  they  do 
not  constitute  any  known  physical  bodies.  They  are 
molecular  varieties  of  ether,  the  atomic  ether  being 
the  kind  that  fills  all  space,  the  molecular  ethers 
being  definitely  aggregated  around  the  planets. 

So  far  the  research  was  carried  out  in  the  year  1 895, 
and  happily  the  results,  including  all  that  I  have 
described  above,  were  published  at  the  time  and  are 
available  for  reference.  Six  years  later  Mme.  Curie 
discovered  radium,  and  its  entrance  on  the  scene 
revolutionized  chemical  science  in  more  ways  than 
one.  Study  of  the  cathode  ray  had  already  intro- 
duced us  all  to  the  "  electron  "  as  an  entity,  but 
radium  introduced  us  to  the  idea  that  physical  matter 
consisted  of  electrons,  and  that  transmutation  was  a 
possibility  in  nature,  thus  vindicating  the  alchemical 
theory  of  the  Middle  Ages  which  nineteenth-century 
science  had  ridiculed.  Inquiry  of  the  ordinary  kind 
was  now  directed  to  the  questions,  what  is  an  electron? 
and  how  many  enter  into  the  lightest  known  atom 
— that  of  hydrogen  ?  The  clairvoyant  research  above 
described  had  answered  both  of  these  questions  in 
advance,  but  was  not  thought  worthy  of  notice  by 
scientists  of  the  orthodox  type.  The  electron  came 
to  be  treated  as  an  atom  of  electricity  by  some 
scientific  leaders,  though  to  others  that  view  was 
unacceptable.  Electricity  is  a  force,  not  a  form  of 
matter.  To  speak  of  an  atom  of  electricity  is  like 
speaking  of  an  atom  of  gravitation,  and  that  would  be 
transparently  ridiculous.  Occult  research  had  shown 
from  the  beginning  that  the  electron,  though  itself 


ii6     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

an  atom  of  ether,  carried  a  definite  unit  charge  of 
electricity.  Orthodox  opinions  as  to  the  number  of 
electrons  in  an  atom  of  hydrogen  vary  within  very 
wide  limits.  Some  give  us  figures  from  i  to  5 ;  some 
others  guess  by  hundreds,  and  700  is  rather  a  favourite 
estimate.  The  few  of  us  who  trusted  the  clairvoyant 
research  felt  sure  the  real  number  was  18.  Then 
in  a  few  years  came  the  proof  of  this,  a  proof  again  so 
far  ignored  by  science  at  large,  though  its  ultimate 
recognition  is  reallj'^  a  matter  of  certainty. 

The  research  of  1895  was  only  resumed  several 
years  later  by  my  clairvoyant  friend,  assisted  then 
by  another  qualified  observer.  The  task  they  under- 
took was  much  more  elaborate  than  the  former. 
Its  purpose  was  to  ascertain  by  actual  counting  the 
number  of  etheric  atoms  entering  into  the  composition 
of  a  large  number  of  chemical  elements,  also  to  depict 
the  grouping  of  the  etheric  atoms.  The  complexity 
of  the  grouping  was  bewildering.  Gold,  for  instance, 
consists  of  three  combined  groups,  an  exact  description 
of  which,  unless  illuminated  by  diagrams,  would  be 
hardly  intelligible.  The  important  idea  to  realize  is 
that  the  counting  could  only  be  effected  by  degrees, 
the  etheric  atoms  in  each  group  reckoned  up  separately 
with  the  assistance  of  a  secretary  who  wrote  down 
the  figures  as  they  were  called  out,  and  only  added 
them  up  after  the  protracted  observations  were 
complete.  The  total  was  3,546.  Then  came  the 
interesting  question — what  figure  would  that  yield 
divided  by  18  ?  The  answer  is  197.  The  recognized 
atomic  weight  of  gold  is  195*74.  The  deeply  in- 
teresting principle  was  vindicated  and,  as  the  pro- 
tracted research  went  on,  over  fifty  of  the  recognized 
chemical  elements  were  examined,  and  in  all  cases  the 
same  principle  was  found  to  be  operative.  I  have  a 
table  before  me  as  I  write,  showing  the  figures  reached 
in    57    observations   of  elements    commonplace   and 


Imprisoned  in  the  Five  Senses         117 

rare ;  and  the  result  is  nothing  less  than  a  demonstra- 
tion of  the  accuracy  of  the  original  observation  show- 
ing the  atom  of  hydrogen  to  consist  of  1 8  etheric  atoms. 
The  notion  that  the  counting  can  in  any  way  have  been 
made  to  fit  the  theory  is  dissipated  by  the  complication 
of  the  work.  Neither  the  observer  nor  the  secretary 
could  have  foreseen  how  the  figures  given  and  recorded 
by  degrees  would  fit  in  with  the  theory  when  added 
up.  Eight  of  the  observed  elements  have  over  3,000 
atoms  each;  eight  more  have  over  2,000.  And  an 
interesting  hint  supporting  the  trustworthiness  of  the 
research  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  observers  found 
in  the  atmosphere  two  molecules  that  could  not  be 
identified  with  any  known  element.  Their  electric 
atoms  numbered  respectively  54  and  402,  yielding  the 
atomic  weights  3  and  22*33.  Now  in  the  course  of 
Sir  J.  J.  Thomson's  research  (by  ingenious  electrical 
methods)  into  the  vagaries  of  the  electron,  he  found 
reason  to  believe  and  to  announce  that  there  must  be 
two  unknown  elements  with  atomic  weights  of  (about) 
3  and  22.  He  little  realized  that  the  announcement 
vindicated  a  previous  announcement  to  the  same  effect 
giving  similar  results  attained  by  clairvoyant  research. 
But  the  3  and  22  discovery  was  of  insignificant 
importance  compared  with  the  discovery  of  the  true 
meaning  of  atomic  weights.  No  work  done  in 
laboratories  in  connection  with  the  electron  or  radio- 
activity is  of  such  far-reaching  significance  as  the 
atomic-weight  discovery  due  to  the  clairvoyant 
research.  It  shows  us  ether  to  be  ponderable  matter, 
though  in  its  uncombined  form  it  defies  examination 
by  methods  appeahng  to  the  physical  senses.  Optical 
methods  tell  us  a  good  deal  about  the  ether,  but  are 
silent  in  regard  to  its  mechanical  attributes.  Clair- 
voyant research  is  the  only  kind  that  can  expand  our 
knowledge  of  Nature  across  the  threshold  of  the  region 
which  lies  beyond  mere  laboratory  research. 


1 1 8     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

In  describing  the  work  done  so  far  by  the  clairvoyant 
method  as  applied  to  certain  problems  in  chemistry, 
I  have  not  stopped  to  give  chapter  and  verse  in  refer- 
ence to  the  dates  of  magazines  or  pamphlets  issued 
from  time  to  time  and  duly  recording  results.  In 
verifying  what  I  have  written  I  will  gladly  assist  any 
serious  scientific  inquirer  capable  of  appreciating  the 
simple  truth  that  the  research  described  is  the  most 
important  contribution  to  our  comprehension  of 
physical  chemistry  that  has  been  made  within  any 
recent  period. 

And  yet,  striking  as  it  is,  it  is  among  the  least 
important  of  the  results  attained  by  human  intelli- 
gence when  once  that  breaks  free  from  imprisonment 
in  the  physical  senses.  The  light  shed  on  the  gradual 
development  of  the  human  race  by  clairvoyant 
research  illuminates  evolution,  and  the  magnitude  of 
the  design,  to  an  extent  that  renders  the  earliest 
Egyptian  and  Chaldean  records  modern  history  by 
comparison.  Besides  being  ultra-microscopic,  clair- 
voyance of  the  highest  order  is  retrospective  almost  to 
infinity.  There  is  no  mystery  in  the  matter  as  treated 
from  one  point  of  view.  The  duly  qualified  clairvoyant 
can  get  into  conscious  touch  with  the  Memory  of 
Nature,  which  is  infinite  in  its  range.  That  is  a  great 
mystery,  no  doubt,  only  to  be  interpreted  by  very 
lofty  wisdom;  but  without  reaching  to  such  levels 
the  clairvoyant  who  has  but  just  broken  out  of  prison 
can  share  in  the  universal  memory  to  a  certain  extent. 
One  of  the  best  books  (Samuel  Laing's  Human 
Origins),  written  previously  to  recent  clairvoyant 
research,  but  dealing  with  the  evidence  afforded  by 
geological  strata,  pushes  back  the  presence  of  Man 
on  earth  to  the  Tertiary  period.  But  a  few  hundred 
thousand  years  represent  a  mere  fraction  of  the  time 
since  the  earth  was  first  inhabited  by  humanity,  and 
not  merely  by  humanity  but  by  nations  of  advanced 


Imprisoned  in  the  Five  Senses  1 1 9 

civilization.  The  mists  that  hung  at  first  over  tradi- 
tions of  Atlantis  are  now  clearing  up.  Incredulity, 
scoffing  at  Plato's  story,  gave  way  at  last  to  the 
soundings  of  the  Challenger.  The  Atlantic  bed 
confessed  part  of  the  truth.  Geologists  accepted  the 
information  and,  having  left  off  laughing  at  the 
idea,  proceeded  to  indicate  the  exact  region  in  which 
the  last  surviving  remnant  of  the  original  Altantic 
continent  lies  now  under  water.  But  it  was  not  the 
business  of  the  Challenger  or  the  geologist  to  describe 
the  inhabitants  of  either  the  last  remnant  or  the  great 
original  continent.  That  was  accomplished  by  clair- 
voyant research  and  the  results  were  duly  published, 
years  in  advance  of  one  occasion  I  remember  when  a 
map  of  the  Atlantic  bed  was  exhibited  at  a  con- 
versazione of  the  Royal  Society,  showing  "  Posei- 
donis  "  (the  last  piece  of  the  former  continent  sub- 
merged 9000-odd  years  b.c.)  lying  under  the  waves  of 
the  present  ocean.  Recorded  evidence  concerning 
the  character  and  date  of  the  great  catastrophe 
has  been  derived  from  the  hieroglyphics  of  Mexico 
and  Yucatan,  and  fuller  information  on  the  subject 
has  been  obtained — in  another  way.  The  few  among 
us  qualified  to  carry  on  super-physical  research  are 
enabled,  by  virtue  of  their  abnormally  developed  senses, 
to  get  into  touch  with  still  more  abnormally  developed 
Beings  whose  progress,  though  they  have  emerged 
originally  from  humanity,  has  so  far  engaged  them 
in  work  on  higher  planes  of  nature  that  they  are  lost 
to  sight  as  regards  ordinary  mankind.  But  they 
have  attained  to  loftier  conditions  of  existence  without 
losing  their  sympathy  with  humanity  of  the  ordinary 
type.  To  do  full  justice  to  the  idea  would  mean 
re-writing  books  devoted  to  the  subject,  but  for  the 
moment  it  should  be  enough  to  feel  that  the  influences 
making  for  variety  in  human  life — that  show  us  an 
ascending    scale    beginning    with    the    savage    and 


I20     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

culminating  in  the  great  Masters  of  science,  literature, 
and  art,  are  not  likely  to  stop  abruptly  even  at  those 
levels.  Its  higher  progress  may  stretch  beyond 
commonplace  vision,  as  the  ultra-violet  rays  of  the 
spectrum  are  beyond  such  vision,  but  we  can  gain 
certain  assurance  that  ultra-violet  rays  exist  in 
Nature,  and  that  those  who  may  be  described  as 
Masters  of  Wisdom  and  Knowledge  exist  also. 

Thus  clairvoyant  research  and  information  com- 
bined enable  us  to  trace  the  origin  and  progress  of 
Atlantean  civilization  through  periods  in  the  past  to  be 
counted  not  in  thousands  but  in  millions  of  years. 
And  behind  them  again  back  into  other  millions  during 
which  the  human  form,  as  we  know  it,  was  gradually 
developed  from  lower  forms.  Indeed,  if  we  go  far 
enough  back  we  shall  find  life,  which  from  some 
points  of  view  we  may  call  already  human,  functioning 
in  vehicles  of  consciousness  not  yet  entirely  physical. 
But  leaving  that  part  of  the  story  out  of  account,  the 
information  already  accumulated  concerning  the 
Atlantean  races  shows  conventional  speculation  re- 
lating to  anthropology  and  ethnology  to  be  mere 
groping  in  the  dark.  Clairvoyant  observation  gives 
us  a  clear-daylight  comprehension  of  the  actual  facts. 
Commonplace  thinking  on  these  subjects  is  entangled 
with  phrases  that  are  utterly  misleading — the  stone, 
bronze,  and  iron  ages;  the  neolithic  and  the  paleolithic 
periods.  Flint  implements,  of  course,  have  their 
stor}'-  to  tell.  They  show  that  regions  of  the  world 
where  they  are  found,  at  dates  vaguely  suggested  by 
geology,  were  inhabited  by  men  of  a  very  primitive 
type .  Very  likely .  At  early  Atlantean  perio  ds  before 
civilization  had  developed,  migrations  of  early  sub- 
races  of  Atlanteans  spread  all  over  the  world.  They 
slowly  outgrew  early  conditions  without  sharing  the 
stimulating  influences  operative  in  the  evolutionary'' 
vortex  from  which  they  had  been  thrown  off.     Con- 


Imprisoned  in  the  Five  Senses         121 

currently  with  a  stone  age  in  some  fragments  of 
land  emerging  from  the  sea  in  the  region  we  now  call 
Europe,  an  age  of  advanced  science,  of  stupendous 
engineering  achievements,  of  intricate  sociology  was 
in  full  activity  in  the  West.  As  the  geography  of  the 
world  was  shaped  anew  in  some  Eastern  countries 
immense  progress  was  accomplished  there.  In  Human 
Origins  Mr.  Laing  is  impressive  concerning  the  certainty 
that  high  civilization  prevailed  in  Egypt  long  before 
Menes — or  the  7000-odd  years  of  Egyptian  history. 
Certainly  it  prevailed  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
years  before  then,  the  direct  gift  of  Atlantean  civiliza- 
tion previous  to  its  decline. 

Perhaps,  however,  the  most  deeply  interesting  aspect 
of  the  whole  Atlantean  story  has  to  do  with  the  moral 
changes  that  have  gone  on  in  the  world  since  that 
strange  period  in  which  the  decline  becomes  manifest. 
In  their  intellectual  perfection  the  Atlanteans  in  some 
ways  were  farther  on  than  ourselves.  They  con- 
trolled some  forces  of  nature  we  have  not  yet  got 
command  of,  and  they  were  past-masters  in  the  arts 
of  metallic  transmutation,  which,  as  a  theoretical 
possibility,  our  chemists  have  only  just  discerned. 
But  they  had  not  even  got  a  glimpse  of  the  moral  beauty 
of  unselfishness,  care  for  the  welfare  of  others,  love, 
in  any  of  its  loftier  aspects.  Altruism,  philanthropy, 
would  have  been  ideas  for  which  their  language 
furnished  no  equivalent  expression. 

Thus  we  gain  a  comprehension  of  human  progress 
on  the  large  scale  as  a  series  of  spiral  cycles,  in  the 
course  of  which  we  return  to  previous  conditions,  but 
on  a  higher  level.  Modern  civilization  is  now  return- 
ing to  a  stage  in  intellectual  progress  reached  by 
the  Atlanteans  at  remote  periods  in  the  past,  but  with 
certain  very  important  embellishments.  Aviation 
and  transmutation,  now  beginning  to  engage  our  atten- 
tion, were,  as  already  said,  Atlantean  achievements; 


122     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

but  we  resume  acquaintance  with  them,  plus  moral 
progress,  in  which  Atlantis  was  sadly  deficient. 

The  limitations  of  sense,  besides  obscuring  the  past, 
veil  the  prospects  of  the  future.  Once  they  are  broken 
through,  the  Divine  plan  of  human  evolution  stretches 
out  before  us  on  a  scale  of  startling  magnificence. 
Clairvoyance  of  the  higher  order  introduces  us,  as 
already  explained,  to  those  advanced  leaders  of  our 
race  described  above  as  Masters  of  Wisdom  and 
Knowledge.  We  are  enabled  to  recognize  them  as 
linking  ordinary  humanity  with  the  Divine  Hierarchy. 
This  extends  upwards  to  infinity,  but  we  touch  a 
sublime  truth  in  realizing  that  on  what  may  be 
called  (though  only  by  comparison)  its  lower  levels, 
it  is  recruited  from  ordinary  humanity.  The  prettiest 
among  conventional  conceptions  of  the  after-life 
show  us  no  more  than  happy  conditions  of  super- 
physical  existence,  dignified  no  doubt  by  the  actual 
recognition  of  Divinity.  But  such  beatitude  seems, 
regarded  by  ordinary  religious  teaching,  as  a  finality. 
Clearer  vision  shows  the  spiritual  future  as  infinitely 
progressive,  and  the  sublime  conditions  attained  by 
Masters  of  Wisdom  merely  a  stage  of  progress :  a  stage 
which  the  majority  of  the  human  race  ought  to  attain 
in  the  long  run,  though  the  length  of  that  run  is  all 
but  beyond  the  reach  of  imagination.  As  some  have 
attained  it  already,  many  more  may  do  so  in  the 
future,  greatly  in  advance  of  its  attainment  by  the 
majority.  The  conditions  of  such  relatively  rapid 
progress  are  the  principal  subjects  of  study  for  pupils 
of  the  higher  occultism.  Incidentally  in  connection 
with  that  study  light  is  let  in  on  many  regions  of 
scientific  research  besides  those  to  which  allusion  has 
already  been  made. 

Emerging  from  the  entirely  primitive  or  childish 
view  of  the  Sun  and  Moon  and  starry  heavens  as 
designed  merely  to  light  vp  the  earth,  commonplace 


Imprisoned  in  the  Five  Senses         123 

modern  speculation  assigns  inhabitants  to  some,  at 
all  events,  of  the  planets.  And  the  stars  are  known 
to  Astronomy  as  Suns,  probably  w^ith  families  of 
planets  in  each  case.  That  knowledge  can  be  reached 
by  simple  intelligence  working  with  the  results  of 
observation  carried  on  within  the  limits  of  normal 
sense-perception.  The  methods  of  observation  avail- 
able for  the  advanced  leaders  of  our  race  put  them 
in  touch  with  a  new  kind  of  astronomy  that  may  be 
called  "  Vital,"  as  distinguished  from  the  mechanical 
astronomy  which  deals  only  with  magnitude  and 
motion.  Mechanical  astronomy  is  as  different  from 
the  Vital  as  a  mere  geography  book,  just  defining  the 
boundaries  of  the  various  countries,  would  differ 
from  exhaustive  accounts  of  the  people  inhabiting 
each,  their  manners,  customs,  arts  and  sciences, 
their  political  organizations  and  their  sociology. 
Physical  observation  has  shown  that  Mars  must  be 
inhabited  by  intelligent  and  competent  beings,  their 
huge  artificial  works  proving  this — in  spite  of 
tenacious  incredulity  clinging  in  the  case  of  a  few 
astronomers  to  the  idea  that  the  Lowell's  Canals  are 
the  offspring  of  chance.  Vital  Astronomy  enables 
us  to  understand  that  the  inhabitants  of  Mars  are 
linked  in  evolution  with  ourselves,  the  inhabitants  of 
this  Earth,  but  at  an  earlier  stage  of  progress.  The 
various  planets  of  the  Solar  System  are  not  discon- 
nected from  one  another  in  their  design  and  destinies, 
as  they  seem  disconnected  in  space.  On  higher 
planes  of  manifestation — ^regions  of  which  the  im- 
prisoning senses  give  us  no  hint — the  immortal 
units  of  humanity,  the  conscious  Egos,  migrate  at 
stupendous  intervals  of  time  from  some  globes  to  some 
others.  The  plan  in  detail  is  much  more  elaborate 
than  this  rough  sketch  would  suggest,  but  it  has  the 
intellectual  charm  of  showing  the  whole  system  to  be 
one  coherent  organism.     The  planet  Mercury  is  also 


124     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

blended  as  regards  its  vital  purpose  with  the  human 
life  of  the  Earth,  while  already  the  human  life  of  the 
planet  Venus  has  attained  to  far  loftier  conditions 
than  we  here  have  reached  as  yet — ^is,  in  fact,  a  senior 
evolution  as  compared  with  our  own,  and  one  in 
which  humanity  is  set  entirely  free  from  the  limita- 
tions of  the  physical  senses.  If  anyone  mentally 
still  imprisoned  in  these  objects  to  this  statement 
on  the  ground  that  proximity  to  the  Sun  must  make 
Venus  and  Mercury  very  hot,  the  answer  is  that  while 
Nature  has  adapted  flesh  and  blood  to  suit  (with  more 
or  less  success)  the  climatic  conditions  of  the  Earth, 
it  is  quite  equal  to  the  task  of  providing  vehicles 
of  consciousness  for  climates  above  our  boiling-point, 
that  can  breathe  comfortably  in  an  atmosphere  at  the 
temperature  of  super-heated  steam.  Chemistry  has 
still  some  discoveries  to  make,  and  the  composition  of 
liquids  that  provide  Mercury,  for  instance,  with  lakes 
and  rivers  defying  evaporation  at,  say,  300°  F. 
would  be  very  interesting  if  it  could  be  ascertained. 
But  less  so  after  all  than  the  contemplation,  possible 
for  our  prison-breakers,  of  the  delightful  conditions 
of  harmony  and  peace  which  are  the  keynotes  of 
existence  on  Mercury,  and  in  a  greater  degree  still  on 
Venus. 

The  hints  I  have  given  so  far  of  the  way  in  which 
senses — avenues  of  consciousness — superior  to  those 
we  are  most  of  us  used  to,  enlarge  our  comprehension 
of  Nature,  will  naturally  suggest  the  inquiry  how 
they  affect  our  comprehension  of  the  conditions  each 
of  us  encounters  when  we  pass  through  the  change 
called  death.  The  answer  is  simple.  They  make  the 
change  perfectly  intelligible;  they  render  the  region 
of  existence  into  which  we  shall  pass  after  undergoing 
the  change  a  pays  de  connaissance .  That  is  the  fore- 
most discovery  with  which  they  are  concerned. 
Current  discussion  as  to  whether  we  really  do  Hve 


Imprisoned  in  the  Five  Senses  125 

again — a  possibility  rendered  doubtful  for  many- 
people  because  religious  teachers  seem  to  know  so 
little  about  it — is  sadly  ludicrous  in  view  of  the 
certain  knowledge  on  the  subject  lying  ready  for  us 
only  just  outside  our  prison  doors.  People,  indeed, 
still  within  them  are  already  inexcusable  if  they  doubt 
the  main  principle,  for  abundant  information  has 
been  smuggled  through  to  them,  and  telephones — 
so  to  speak — have  been  set  up  within  the  prison  walls 
which  enable  us  to  talk  with  people  outside.  But  one 
must  get  outside  fully  to  understand  what  lies  beyond. 
Dartmoor  is  big,  but  England  is  bigger,  and  beyond 
England  lie  other  countries  of  stupendous  magnitude. 
The  physical  plane  is  an  extensive  region,  but  regions 
within  the  cognizance  of  superior  senses  are  more 
extensive  in  more  than  a  corresponding  fashion.  Our 
astral  world  into  which  we  pass  when  escaping  from 
the  prison  of  the  senses  is  an  envelope  surrounding 
the  physical  globe,  but  enormous  in  comparison. 
To  the  appropriate  senses  it  is  as  solid  and  variegated 
as  this.  And  there  are  numberless  variations  of 
condition  for  dwellers  in  the  vast  astral  globe.  The 
Earth-life  has  been  used  by  some  in  a  manner  productive 
as  its  consequence  of  great  happiness  and  wide  views 
of  Nature — by  others  unhappily  in  ways  that  entail 
consequences  of  a  very  different  order,  with  which 
people  who  lead  commonly  decent  lives  need  not 
trouble  their  imagination;  unless,  indeed,  without 
any  self-regarding  apprehension,  they  want  to  under- 
stand the  sublime  harmonies  of  a  Divine  design 
which  would  be  violated  disastrously  if  the  ulterior 
results  of  good  and  bad  lives  were  uniformly  the 
same.  Thus  the  astral  world  provides  purgatorial 
conditions  of  highly  varying  intensity,  through  which 
those  who  have  badly  misused  the  opportunities  of 
physical  life  must  pass  before  attaining  happier  con- 
ditions, while,  for  a  very  large  number  of  people  who 


126     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

have  led  fairly  creditable  lives,  the  happy  conditions 
are  reached  at  once.  The  study  of  the  way  in  which 
these  vary  in  turn — meeting  the  needs  of  the  simply 
innocent  immigrants  as  appropriately  as  they  provide 
for  highly  evolved  entities — the  foremost  repre- 
sentatives of  earthly  wisdom  and  achievement — is  a 
profoundly  interesting  but  a  very  elaborate  study, 
to  subserve  which,  however,  abundant  literature  is 
now  in  existence. 

This,  moreover,  will  enable  anyone  who  wishes  to 
push  the  inquiry  farther  to  gather  some  information 
as  to  the  way  in  which  the  five  senses  may  be  rein- 
forced by  the  development  of  new  ones.  In  an 
imperfectly  developed  condition  there  are  two  organs 
in  the  human  brain  which,  when  fully  matured,  will 
respond  to  the  higher  vibrations  of  certain  media  in 
which  we  are  unconsciously  immersed,  and  convey 
impressions  to  the  brain  as  vivid  as  those  conveyed 
by  the  eye  when  dealing  with  objects  normally  visible. 
These  organs  are  the  Pineal  Gland  and  the  Pituitary 
body.  In  some  few  cases  they  are  already  active; 
in  some  others  they  might  be  cultivated  into  activity ; 
in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  they  are  hopelessly 
incapable  of  such  development  during  the  current 
life  of  the  Ego  concerned.  Their  development  in  the 
next  physical  life  depends  on  the  extent  to  which, 
in  the  current  life,  the  person  in  question  devotes 
thought,  study,  and  effort  to  super-physical  aspira- 
tion, for  the  laws  governing  the  growth  of  form 
recognize  thought  and  effort  as  potent  forces  con- 
tributing to  the  result. 

Indeed,  if  we  cling  to  the  prison  metaphor  the 
situation  is  abnormal  in  more  ways  than  one,  for  the 
authorities  are  by  no  means  anxious  to  keep  their 
prisoners  within  their  respective  cells.  They  must 
— in  obedience  to  still  higher  authority — ^refrain  from 
actually  helping  prisoners  to  escape,  but  they  do  not 


Imprisoned  in  the  Five  Senses  127 

interfere  with  those  trying  to  do  so .  Prison-breaking, 
far  from  being  an  offence,  is  their  right — is  regarded 
as  altogether  meritorious.  Once  clear  of  the  walls 
the  fugitive  is  never  pursued  or  brought  back. 
Authority  wishes  him  well,  and  cheers  his  farther 
progress.  He  must,  however,  break  out  by  daring 
and  force,  not  by  cunning.  There  is  a  door  leading 
out  of  the  prison  into  the  free  world  beyond  that  is 
always  unfastened.  Any  prisoner  can  push  it  open 
and  go  out  that  way  if  he  chooses,  but  all  are  put  upon 
their  honour  not  to  attempt  an  escape  that  way. 
And  if  they  break  faith  and  do  so,  they  are  terribly 
disappointed,  for  the  door  leads  out  of  the  prison,  it  is 
true,  but  to  regions  in  which  the  conditions  are  still 
more  distressing  than  those  of  the  prison  itself,  and 
there  is  no  short  cut  leading  out  of  them  in  turn.  To 
plod  through  the  forbidden  country  may  take  a 
longer  time  than  would  have  been  spent  in  the  prison 
waiting  for  the  order  of  release,  due  in  any  case  sooner 
or  later. 

Nor  must  it  be  imagined  that  the  period  spent  in 
prison  is  wasted  time.  Physical  life  is,  indeed,  subject 
to  limitations  trying  to  the  patience  of  those  who 
know  something  about  the  infinite  realities  that  lie 
beyond,  but  the  law  of  all  progress  defines  the  physical 
plane  as  the  region  of  Beginnings.  No  one  word 
precisely  fits  the  idea;  nor  does  it  apply  to  the  be- 
ginnings of  Form.  Divine  Ideation,  Creative  Thought, 
takes  its  rise  on  much  higher  planes,  but  culminates 
on  the  Physical.  There,  individualized  consciousness, 
human  Egos — working  in  forms  completed  from  one 
point  of  view,  though  very  far  from  perfection  as  con- 
templated from  another — can  start  on  an  upward 
journey.  From  that  time  on,  their  progress  depends 
on  themselves.  They  are  launched  on  the  upward 
arc  of  evolution  and  all  the  limitations  accumulated 
during  the  downward  arc  fall  away,  or  rather  are 


128     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

shaken  off  as  the  onward  progress  is  accomplished. 
The  work  of  shaking  them  off  is  difficult  in  the  be- 
ginning. Most  people  are  imperfectly  aware  of  the 
disabilities  under  which  they  labour.  The  senses 
have  given  them  a  rich  and  apparently  ever-growing 
store  of  knowledge  and  power.  They  are — the 
foremost  of  them — ^proud  and  content — within  their 
Palace.  The  multitude  have  not  yet  even  risen  to 
the  appreciation  of  its  opulent  resources.  None  the 
less,  the  Beginning,  for  every  single  Ego  of  the  count- 
less millions,  must  be  made  from  the  physical  point 
of  departure.  And  on  the  physical  plane — the 
prison  of .  my  favourite  metaphor — the  countless 
millions  will  accumulate  and  remain  until  they 
make  it.  In  that  fact  lies  the  clue  to  the  course  that 
has  been  pursued  in  recent  years  by  agents  of  the 
Divine  Hierarchy  who  have  guided  the  current  out- 
burst of  information  relating  to  the  higher  destinies 
available  for  mankind,  information  which  constitutes 
a  feature  of.  ever-increasing  importance  in  modern 
civilization.  The  steps  taken  were  impossible  at  a 
former  time.  Bigotry  dominated  the  mental  atmos- 
phere. Ignorant  power  stamped  upon  all  manifesta- 
tions of  independent  thought.  It  was  only  when 
freedom  had  "  broadened  slowly  down  from  precedent 
to  precedent  "  that  a  place  was  found  among  men  for 
messengers  from  a  loftier  world.  Now  the  message 
has  been  poured  forth  through  many  channels.  In 
varying  forms  of  expression  it  is  the  same  in  all  cases. 
Look  beyond  the  perishable  interests  of  transient 
life  in  the  physical  body.  Comprehend  the  scheme 
of  infinite  magnificence  to  which  you  belong.  Get 
the  clear  view  now  attainable  of  the  whole  Divine 
programme.  Make  the  beginning  that  every  human 
creature  must  make  soon  or  late,  and  the  results  are 
bound  to  transcend  even  the  most  glowing  anticipa- 
tion. 


OUR  VISITS  TO  THIS  WORLD 

The  materialist  who  regards  human  life  as  beginning 
in  the  cradle  and  ending  in  the  grave  is  at  all  events 
consistent,  though  he  insults  Divine  intelligence. 
But  people  who  shrink  from  believing  in  final  ex- 
tinction, and  nevertheless  regard  each  new  life  as  a 
fresh  beginning  insult  human  understanding.  They 
ask  us,  in  other  words,  to  accept  the  idea  of  a  stick 
with  only  one  end.  We  can  think  of  a  stick  with  no 
ends  at  all,  or  anyhow  can  talk  of  it  as  we  talk  of 
Eternity,  but  to  be  on  speaking  terms  with  Infinitude 
we  must  avoid  the  acquaintance  of  futurities  that 
have  no  past.  Some  phenomena — a  bonfire,  for  in- 
stance— may  begin  and  cease  to  be,  but  human 
immortality  is  an  idea  that  claims  in  the  forward 
direction  to  share  the  attributes  of  Duration,  and 
cannot  do  without  them  in  the  other. 

The  word  "  life  "  needs  to  be  handled  with  care. 
If  people  go  on  living  after  their  bodies  are  buried  or 
burned,  their  presence  on  the  physical  plane  is  merely 
an  episode  in  their  lives.  If  these  continue  they  must, 
under  other  conditions,  have  been  going  on  before  on 
other  planes.  Seventy  or  eighty  years  of  activity  in 
the  physical  body  constitute  part  of  a  life.  Its  con- 
tinuance has  ceased  to  be  a  matter  of  guesswork  for 
the  millions  concerned  with  the  simple  variety  of 
occult  research  described  as  Spiritualism,  and  the 
current  interest  in  that  research  is  rapidly  rendering 
the  current  contempt  for  it  in  most  newspapers  an 
illustration  of  their  patient  efforts  to  represent  the 
greatest  stupidity  of  the  greatest  number.    A  deeper 

129  9 


130     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

research  than  that  content  with  merely  proving  that 
people  are  still  aUve  after  they  are  "  dead  "  intro- 
duces us  to  the  logical  conclusion  that  they  were 
alive  before  they  were  born,  and  thus,  by  stages, 
to  the  inevitable  conclusion  that  consciousness 
functioning  sometimes  on  one  plane  of  Nature,  some- 
times on  another,  is  never  "  to  one  engine  bound,"  but 
always  cycles  round  and  round.  In  hard  scientific 
language  this  conclusion  brings  us  up  against  the 
doctrine  of  Reincarnation,  which,  sharing  the  fate 
of  many  others,  is  made  to  seem  an  offence  to  lofty 
aspiration  by  getting  itself  profoundly  misunder- 
stood. 

At  first,  introduced  to  the  Western  world  in  the 
earliest  theosophical  writings,  it  captured  a  great 
array  of  supporters  because,  for  the  first  time,  it 
enabled  them  to  contemplate  the  inequalities  of 
human  condition  without  feeling  that  they  were 
incompatible  with  belief  in  Divine  justice.  One 
could  fall  back  on  the  theor}'  that  Divine  ways  were 
inscrutable,  but  it  was  comforting  to  grasp  a  new 
idea  that  prevented  them  from  seeming,  on  the  face 
of  things,  ways  we  should  personally  be  ashamed  of. 
Objections  were  forthcoming  none  the  less.  Spiritual- 
ists said  our  friends  on  the  other  side  do  not  know 
anything  about  the  new  idea.  Others  declared  that 
they  did  not  like  this  world,  and  did  not  want  to  come 
back  to  it,  confident  that  Nature  would  not  be  so 
rude  as  to  disregard  their  wishes.  To  others,  again, 
the  notion  of  beginning  life  afresh  at  the  perambu- 
lator stage  was  intolerable;  and  affectionate  parents, 
mourning  a  loved  daughter,  were  horrified  to  think 
that  on  passing  on  themselves  they  might  be  greeted 
with  the  news  that  she  had  been  reincarnated  in 
Timbuctoo.  From  another  point  of  view  the  dis- 
believer declared  that  he  did  not  remember  having 
had  a  previous  life,  therefore  it   was   obvious   that 


Our  Visits  to  this  World  131 

neither  he  nor  anyone  else  ever  had  one.  Objections  of 
these  varied  kinds  are  very  amusing  to  all  who  under- 
stand more  or  less  completely  the  conditions  of  human 
progress  through  the  ages.  The  friends  of  the 
Spiritualist  on  "  the  other  side  "  are  enjoying  the 
freshness  of  a  renewed  life^  the  reunion  with  others 
they  may  have  cared  for,  the  vivid  reality  of  that 
next  world  they  have  reached;  they  are  no  more 
concerned  with  further  changes  that  may  lie  in  the 
remote  future  than  boys  at  a  school,  full  of  enthusiasm 
for  cricket,  ponder  on  problems  that  perplex  the 
invalid  of  sixty  or  seventy.  Nor  if  they  did  develop 
a  premature  interest  in  the  remote  future  could  they 
readily  get  information.  If  they  have  it  in  them  to 
advance  to  higher  levels  of  the  Astral  world,  beyond 
that  they  touch  on  first  going  over,  they  will  ulti- 
mately acquire  knowledge ;  but  even  that  is  not 
certain  unless  they  have  been  tinged  during  physical 
life  with  some  aspiration  towards  higher  knowledge. 

A  fundamental  and  deeply  important  fact  con- 
nected with  higher  spiritual  progress  is  hinted  at 
by  what  has  just  been  said.  The  physical  plane  of 
life  is  pre-eminently  associated  with  all  beginnings. 
Its  importance  in  this  respect  cannot  be  overrated. 
This  condition  underlies  the  principle  of  Reincarnation, 
is  the  root  of  its  necessity.  Spiritualism  and  other 
forms  of  belief  concerning  the  future  life  include  a 
vague  expectation  that  infinite  spiritual  progress  is 
possible  after  death  down  here.  So  it  is,  but  the 
permanent  Ego  is  not  spoon-fed  with  higher  know- 
ledge unless  he  has  engendered  a  desire  for  it  in  his 
working  perioc^  on  the  physical  plane.  If  he  has  not 
done  this  Ntiture  gives  him  such  blissful  rest  on 
higher  levels  of  consciousness  as  he  may  be  entitled 
to  by  the  use  he  has  made  of  his  physical  opportunities, 
and  then  another  set  of  opportunities  in  the  shape  of 
renewed  physical   life.     Of  course,   there  are  other 


132     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

purposes  to  be  served  by  that  renewed  life  to  be 
discussed  later  on,  but  for  the  moment,  in  reference 
to  the  first  steps  in  our  comprehension  of  loftier 
destinies.  Reincarnation  may  be  thought  of  as  the 
system  or  method  adopted  by  Nature  for  teaching  the 
law  of  Reincarnation.  At  earlier  stages  of  human 
progress  the  young  Ego  has  not  begun  to  concern  itself 
with  the  study  of  natural  law — is  merely  gathering, 
life  after  life,  preliminary  experience  of  pleasure  and 
pain,  of  right  and  wrong,  of  emotion  and  desire  and 
their  consequences.  Does  the  use  of  the  word 
"  young  "  in  this  sense  seem  to  involve  the  fallacy  of 
assigniiig  a  beginning  to  that  which  has  no  end  ? 
There  is  no  real  inconsistency  in  the  language  used. 
The  essence  of  the  young  Ego  has  emerged  from 
infinite  Divine  life,  but  at  one  period  has  crystallized 
as  a  centre  of  consciousness  within  the  Divine  life, 
and  in  conformity  with  laws  coming  to  be  understood 
develops  expanded  capacity  by  degrees.  Gradually 
and  slowly  this  result  is  accomplished. 


X 


Man  as  yet  is  being  made  and  ere  the  crownmg  Age^of  ages. 
Shall  not  aeon  after  aeon  pass  and  touch  him  into  shape  ? 

But  his  consciousness  may  be  traced  back  through 
animal  and  vegetable  forms,  through  solar  systems  and 
nebulae  to  past  infinitudes  of  manifestation. 

Perhaps  a  simpler  answer  than  has  been  given  above 
might  more  easily  meet  the  objection  of  spiritualists 
who  say  that  their  spirit  friends  do  not  know  anything 
of  Reincarnation.  Some  of  them  do  !  But  the  fact 
that  some  of  them  deny  it  is  quite  intelligible  when 
we  comprehend  their  limitations,  and  unimportant. 
For  most  of  us  behef  in  the  rotundity  of  the  Earth 
is  not  shaken  by  the  denial  of  a  few  who  still  believe 
it  to  be  flat. 

When  disbelief  in  the  law  of  Reincarnation  arises 
from  dislike  for  the  idea,  one  may  first  of  all  suggest 


Our  Visits  to  this  World  133 

that  people  who  deeply  dislike  the  law  which  brings 
trouble  on  those  who  pick  other  people's  pockets  do 
not  by  such  dislike  divert  its  course.  But  in  truth, 
people  only  dislike  the  idea  for  want  of  understanding 
it.  They  do  not  realize,  for  one  thing,  that  the  force 
which  gives  rise  to  Reincarnation  in  each  individual 
case  is  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Ego  to  reincarnate. 
If  no  such  desire  were  generated,  on  the  plane x)f  the 
Ego,  after  the  personal  life  of  the  entity  in  question 
has  been  fully  enjoyed  or  worked  out  in  the  Astral 
world,  and  then  has  merged  itself  in  the  Ego  on  a 
higher  plane,  Reincarnation  would  not  take  place ; 
but  the  hypothesis  for  the  occultist  is  unthinkable. 
The  desire  for  fresh  experience  is  as  inevitably  en- 
gendered in  the  Ego  when  all  so  far  gathered  has  been 
absorbed,  as  the  desire  for  fresh  food  is  engendered 
during  physical  life  in  the  body,  when  previous 
supplies  have  been  finally  disposed  of.  This  state 
of  things  invests  the  familiar  protest  against  having 
to  come  back  to  this  vale  of  tears  with  a  very  ludicrous 
aspect.  Even  after  eating  too  much  and  being  for  the 
moment  disinclined  for  more  food,  people  in  general 
know  that  at  some  future  time  they  will  be  hungry 
again;  but,  if  while  suffering  from  repletion  they 
declared  that  for  ever  and  ever  they  would  detest  food, 
the  declaration  would  be  unconvincing.  The  advanced 
Ego  knows  that  he  must  come  back  to  life  on  Earth 
in  order  eventually  to  get  on.  Certainly,  by  some, 
a  god-like  stage  is  reached  when  an  Ego  may  have 
risen  above  the  laws  affecting  ordinary  humanity,  but 
long  before  then  his  lives  in  connection  with  the  Earth 
will  have  included  complete  comprehension  of  all 
such  laws.  People  who  criticize  them  on  the  basis 
of  profound  ignorance  of  the  way  they  work  have 
certainly  not  attained  the  condition  which  might 
enable  them  to  be  a  law  unto  themselves. 

Of  all  the  misconceptions  prompting  disbelief  in 


134     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

Reincarnation,  the  most  ridiculous  is  that  which 
makes  some  critics  shrink  with  horror  from  the  idea 
of  beginning  hfe  again  in  the  cradle.  They  somehow 
imagine  themselves  with  their  present  elaborate  con- 
sciousness subject  to  its  miserable  limitations.  The 
law  does  not  give  rise  to  any  such  ghastly  absurdity, 
but  to  get  rid  entirely  of  the  painful  delusion  in 
question  we  have  to  go  into  a  closer  study  of  the  way 
the  process  of  rebirth  is  effected  than  was  usually 
possible  for  those  who  accepted  the  main  idea  at 
the  first  blush,  as  accounting  for  the  inequalities 
of  hfe. 

The  method  Nature  pursues  in  providing  an  Ego  with 
a  fresh  incarnation  shows  the  absurdity  of  what  may 
be  called  the  perambulator  objection.  When — long 
after  the  close  of  the  Earth  period  of  the  previous  life 
— the  time  has  come  for  the  Ego  to  plunge  again  into 
the  experiences  of  the  physical  plane,  the  preparations 
for  this  are  very  gradual.  And  they  vary  within 
a  very  wide  range  of  possibility  according  to  the 
stage  of  growth  the  Ego  has  reached.  But  in  any 
case  the  child  in  its  baby  stage  is  not  an  embodiment 
of  the  Ego,  or  of  the  last  personality  in  which  it 
manifested,  any  more  than  the  sloppy  clay  foundations 
of  a  new  house  are  already  inhabited  by  the  person 
who  is  destined  to  live  in  it  when  it  is  fully  built  and 
furnished.  The  amplification  of  this  all-important 
view  of  the  matter  may  be  postponed  for  the  moment, 
for  the  broad  fact  disposes  of  the  delusion  people 
suffer  from  if  they  think  of  themselves  as  enduring  the 
limitations  of  childhood  when  coming  back  to  Earth- 
life.  Before  dealing  fully  with  the  gradual  way  in 
which  a  new  child's  body  is  rendered  fit  for  occupation 
by  the  appointed  tenant,  attention  may  as  well  be 
paid  to  a  difficulty  of  a  more  dignified  order  than  any 
already  noticed.  Does  the  law  of  Reincarnation 
conflict  with  the  supremely  important  aspect  of  the 


Our  Visits  to  this  World  135 

next  world,  in  which  we  think  of  it  as  reuniting  under 
happy  conditions  the  loving  friends,  wives  and 
daughters,  sons  and  fathers,  torn  asunder  by  death 
— so  cruelly  torn  asunder  as  it  often  seems  to  limited 
vision.  Reincarnation  no  more  interferes  with  the 
reunion  on  higher  planes  of  those  who  have  loved  one 
another  on  this  one  than  our  next  summer's  holiday 
will  be  interfered  with  by  the  precession  of  the' 
equinoxes.  That  astronomical  process  will  affect 
climate  in  future,  biit  it  need  not  worry  us  for  the 
moment.  Nor,  indeed,  as  regards  the  law  of  Rein- 
carnation need  the  most  far-sighted  view  of  the 
future  embarrass  the  conditions — on  the  Astral  plane 
— of  those  whp  have  loved  one  another  on  Earth. 
On  the  contrary  it  expands  to  infinityide  the  value 
of  that  relationship .  Other  natural  co;lditions  operate 
at  first  in/the  Astral  life,  and  no/fnatter  what  in- 
tervals of''our  time  elapse  between  the  passing  over 
of  the  i/ersons  concerned,  experience  of  Astral  life 
shows  Imat  the  old  lopk  of  an  old-age  body — reflecting 
itself  for  a  brief  period  in  the  Astral  form — rapidly 
disappears.  As  a  bro^  rule  people  all  grow/^oung 
again  in  appearance,  aiber  passing  over  in  jDld  age, 
or  revert  to  whatever  they  may  think  of  as  t^e  prime 
of  life,  the  aspect  best  worthy  of  perpetuajiion.  The 
few  years  that  for  a  time  s^arate  the  lierson  who 
dies  first  from  the  beloved  other  who  lip^ers  long  in 
physical  life,  fade  into  insignificance/ in  the  long 
companionship  of  the  Astral  life.'.  Tjien  eventually 
(after  certain  developments  on  higher  levels),  those 
who  really  care  for  one  another  reincarnate  more  or 
less  simultaneously,  and  come  into  ^tenewed  relation- 
ships or  intimacies  on  the  Earth  j/lane.  To  quarrel 
with  the  law  of  Reincarnation,  because  it  separates 
people  who  can  only  be  happy  together,  is  a  blunder 
for  which  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  parallel.  One 
might  as  well  complain  of  the  Sun  for  not  shining,  or 


136     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

of  the  Earth  for  not  turning  round.  Reincarnation 
is  a  force  that  does  not  disperse  people,  but  gathers 
them  together.  It  does  this  not  merely  as  regards 
loving  couples :  it  unites  great  groups  of  people 
in  sympathetic  friendship.  Whenever  exceptional 
opportunities  have  enabled  occult  students  to  gain 
knowledge  concerning  the  former  lives  of  themselves 
and  their  friends  or  belongings,  current  intimacies 
are  always  found  to  be  the  fruit  of  similar  relationships 
in  former  times.  Where  some  man  and  woman  are 
found  united  in  this  lifel>5J^he  beautiful  bond  of  a  real 
mutual  love,  they  are  invanafely  found  ^liave  been 
man  and  wife  in  repeated  lives  fo^jai^^^ands  of  years. 
And  community  of  interestj;*-'fl^otio!TM;D  spiritual 
progress  links  large  gvc^psof  people  togetnbr  in  life 
after  life.  Througlr^e  ages  they  may  scatter  some- 
times, when --iil^ividual  attractions  draw  them  off 
in  one  direction  or  another.  They  always  come 
together  again  sooner  or  later. 

/in  view  of  what  has  just  been  said  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  deal  seriously  with  the  self-sufficient 
foolishness  of  people  who  contend  that,  because  they 
do  not  remember  any  former  life,  no  one  has  lived 
formerly. ^/Many  people  do  remember,  as  one  result 
of  awakening  faculties  not  yet  common  to  all,  and  the 
fact  that  the  vast  majority  do  not  remember  is  easily 
accounted  for.  The  human  race,  as  a  whole,  is  not  far 
enough  advanced  to  work  with  the  senses  that  have  been 
brought  into  activity  by  a  few  pioneers  of  progress. 
The  cultured  minority  of  civilized  countries,  even,  is 
little  more  than  half-way  on  along  the  course  marked 
out  for  the  millions  of  years  of  human  activity,  while, 
if  we  strike  an  average  between  an  Australian  savage 
and  the  President  of  the  Roj'-al  Society,  the  result 
will  be  ratlier  disheartening.  And,  indeed,  though 
we  may  take  the  holder,  at  any  time,  of  the  exalted 
office  referred  to  as  one  who  "  stands  on  the  height 


Our  Visits  to  this  World  137 

of  his  Hfe,"  and  of  Hfe  as  generally  understood,  the 
occult  student  at  all  events  enjoys  "  a  glimpse  of  a 
height  that  is  higher,"  and  expands  his  consciousness 
accordingly.  But  apart,  indeed,  from  the  fact  that 
the  majority  even  of  cultured  people  in  civilized  com- 
munities have  not  yet  developed  faculties  that  enable 
them  to  remember  past  liveSj  there  is  a  very  good 
reason  why  Nature  does  not  allow  them  to  do  so,  at 
their  present  stage  of  progress.  Very  often  they  have 
complicated  "  Karma  "  to  work  out.  They  have 
done  things  in  past  lives  that  entail  painful  conse- 
quences in  the  current  life.  To  be  able  in  advance, 
by  remembering  the  incidents,  to  foresee  the  painful 
consequences  impending,  would  be  an  arrangement 
cruelly  aggravating  the  pain.  For  the  clear  sight  of 
past  causes  it  is  much  better  that  most  of  us  should 
wait.  When  spiritual  attainment  has  cured  us  of  the 
tendencies  that  engender  evil  consequences;  when 
appropriate  /aspirations  and  acquired  knowledge 
co-operate,-'the  higher  senses  (which  include  the  power 
of  looking  back)  will  certainly  dawn  amoftg  earnest 
students  of  the  Higher  Occultism — the  super-physical 
science  of  Nature  which  illuminates  the  whole  Divine 
scheme  for  those  devoted  to  it.  There  are  some  who 
already  have  these  higher  senses  in  full  activity,  and 
can  not  only  look  back  on  the  former  lives  they  them- 
selves have  passed  through,  but  on  the  companionships 
and  acquaintanceships  of  those  lives,  so  that  a  great 
many  others  now  in  physical  life  are  enabled  at  second 
hand  to  acquire  knowledge  of  their  former  doings. 
Thus  we  can  observe  in  actual  operation  the  working 
of  the  law  referred  to  above,  which  brings  sympathetic 
friends,  besides  those  linked  by  the  supreme  tie  of 
love,  into  incarnation  together.  In  this  way  I  have 
been  able  to  identify  twenty  or  thirty  of  my  present 
friends  and  acquaintances,  as  having  played  parts 
together  in  former  dramas — parts  that  have  curiously 


138     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

varied   in   character   sometimes,    under    Karmic   in- 
fluences of  diverse  kinds. 

Before  examining  the  method — or  methods,  for 
they  vary — by  means  of  which  reincarnations  are 
accomplished,  let  .us  glance  at  the  esoteric  necessity 
for  the  proces^r  Theologians,  by  thoroughly  mis- 
understanding^od  and  Nature — i.e.,  supreme  Divine 
power  and  the  mechanism  of  manifestation — have 
taught  people  to  think  of  the  Earth-life  and  its 
conditions  with  disdain  (if  they  can),  and  to  con- 
template an  eternal  future  of  hymns,  wings  and 
inferior  musical  instruments  with  as  much  ardour 
as  the  prospect  permits.  Expanding  knowledge 
enables  us  to  reahze  that  the  Earth-life  is  in  the  same 
relation  to  the  spiritual  future  that  (during  this  life) 
a  man's  business  or  work  is  to  the  enjoyments  that 
wait  upon  success./' The  slow  processes  of  early 
evolution  fit  the  growing  Ego  for  his  work  in  the 
Earth-life.  Then  he  has  to  do  it,  and  earn  the  results. 
Few  Egos  would  do  it  successfully  the  first  time  of 
trying.  Nature  is  very  patient,  and  gives  them 
almost  any  number  of  repeated  opportunities  for 
trying  again — i.e.,  so  many  Earth-lives  with  periods 
of  rest  between  each.  Only  here  can  they  do  the 
workX  Careless  thinkers  vaguely  imagine  that  spiritual 
progress — without  work  to  provide  for  it — will  be 
somehow  accomplished  on  spiritual  planes  after  the 
shackles  of  physical  existence  are  contemptuously 
cast  off.  On  this  plane  that  would  be  like  the  view 
of  life  that  a  man  of  business  might  take  if  he  assumed 
that  income  would  flow  in  of  itself  if  he  basked  all  the 
time  in  the  luxuries  of  his  home  and  never  went  back 
to  his  office.  Consequences  will  not  follow  without 
causes  being  set  up  to  provide  for  them.  That  simple 
truth  governs  spiritual  progress  as  well  as  the  pro- 
cesses of  manufacture.  Wood  will  not  spontaneously 
convert   itself  into   tables   and   chairs.     The  human 


Our  Visits  to  this  World  139 

soul  must  be  fashioned  into  shape  before  it  can  take 
a  place — as  it  may  do  if  all  goes  well — in  the  Divine 
Hierarchy;  but,  unlike  the  wood,  it  has  within  it  the 
power  of  fashioning  itself,  and  no  external  carpenter 
can  accomplish  the  task,  a  long  and  sometimes 
a  wearisome  undertaking  that  can  only  be  carried 
to  a  successful  conclusion  in  the  workshop.  "In  more 
scientific  language,  physical  life  is  the  condition  in 
which  we  all  begin  the  work  of  educating  ourselves 
up  to  Divine  levels,  a  stupendpus  task,  each  stage 
of  which  has  its  own  beginning.  We  start  in  some  life 
or  another  on  the  upward  journey.  We  make  some 
progress  which  colours  the  super-physical  period  of 
rest  and  fruition,  and  if  we  persevere  we  get  on  farther 
next  time.  No  one  in  one  physical  life  does  more  than 
make  progress.  If  he  has  set  out  to  walk  from  the 
Land's  End  to  the  north  of  Scotland  he  cannot  get 
over  the  whole  distance  in  one  day,  but  let  him  keep 
on  day  after  day  and  he  will  arrive  eventually. 
If  he  were  allowed  only  one  day  for  the  journey  he 
would  not  do  this.  The  comparison  is  perfectly 
sound.  y-If  we  were  allowed  only  one  life,  we  could 
never  get  to  the  summit  of  our  possible  destiny. 
Certainly  there  are  aspects  of  progress  at  variance 
apparently  with  the  rigidity  of  the  statement  above 
about  the  necessity  of  providing  for  it  by  work  down 
here.  At  given  stages  of  progress  we  must  be  in 
touch  with  super-physical  planes,  but  the  aspiration 
to  get  into  touch  with  them  must  have  begun  here 
in  the  first  instance.  Thus  the  importance  of  the 
physical  life  and  its  opportunities  cannot  be  over- 
rated, its  frequent  renewal  is  an  absolute  necessity — 
deeply  embedded,  so  to  speak,  in  the  Divine  pro- 
gramme of  human  evolution. 

The  methods  by  which  reincarnations  are  accom- 
plished vary  within  very  wide  limits  according  to  the 
stage  of  development  each  Ego  may  have  reached. 


140     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

For  a  few  (relatively),  very  far  on,  special  arrangements 
come  into  play.  Dealing  first  with  the  enormous 
majority,  including  the  savage  and  civilized  races,  the 
course  of  rebirth  is  guided — not  by  blind  laws  in- 
herent in  matter,  but  by  the  will  of  Beings  on  an 
immensely  high  level  of  Divine  dignity,  thought  of  by 
occult  students  as  the  Lords  of  Karma.  So  far  as  we 
know  their  collective  jurisdiction  extends  over  the 
whole  Universe.  As  regards  this  world  we  know  of 
four' such  Beings,  each,  of  course,  presiding  over  an 
immense  hierarchy  of  agents.  One  is  concerned 
merely  —  or  especially  —  with  the  savage  races  ; 
another  with  the  rank  and  file  of  civilization; 
another  with  the  cultured  minority:  these  present 
Karmic  problems  of  deeper  intricacy  than  are  usual 
with  the  less  evolved  majority.  The  fourth  is  con- 
cerned with  the  Karma  of  Nations,  but  that  is  a  huge 
subject  by  itself  which  need  not  claim  attention  for 
the  moment. 

The  simplest  savage  has  potentialities  of  ultimate 
development  towards  infinity,  but  till  his  Ego  has 
become  qualified  for  incarnation  in  civilized  races, 
almost  any  opportunity  for  renewed  life  in  his  own 
or  some  similar  race  will  suit  him  equally. well.  His 
higher  spiritual  self  is  merely  a  germ^/The  identity 
of  his  personalities  in  each  savage  life  could  only  be 
traced  by  the  keenest  vision  of  ejfelted  clairvoyance. 
As  a  natural  process  the  method  of  bringing  any  Ego 
back  to  physical  life  will  be  better  understood  if  we 
consider  the  rank  and  file  of  civilization.  At  that 
level  each  Ego  has  made  some  progress  in  growing  a 
Higher  Self  on  the  plane  of  spiritual  consciousness. 
The  personality  in  life  has  developed  capacities  of  the 
mind,  loves,  friendships,  and  relationships  which 
give  rise  to  a  protracted  and  interesting  period  of 
life  on  the  Astral  plane  after  physical  death.  This 
period  may  last  for  centuries,  but  it  is  the  outcome  of 


Our  Visits  to  this  World  141 

finite  causes  and  comes  to  an  end.  The  loves  and 
friendships  do  not  come  to  an  end.  They  are  simply 
melting  into  spiritual  consciousness  preparatory  to 
their  renewal  in  a  new  phy^cal-plane  act  of  the  great 
life  drama,  but  when  each  Ego  concerned  has  been 
assigned  to  a  new  and  appropriate  incarnation  by  the 
Divine  discernment  of  the  Lord  of  Karma,  let  us 
observe  what  happens. 

An  atom  of  matter — inconceivably  minute,  an  atom 
of  each  plane  on  which  human  consciousness  can 
function — clings  to  each  personality  after  death. 
This  is  well  understood  by  occult  students.  Such 
atoms  are  called  the  "  permanent  atoms."  They 
pass  upward  during  the  long  inter-incarnate  period, 
and  ultimately  lodge  in  the  Higher  Self.  When  a  new 
birth  has  been  ordained  they  are  projected  down 
through  the  intervening  planes,  and  the  permanent 
physical  atom  lodges  in  the  new^  mother.  Does  that 
seem  a  very  feeble  link  with  J^he  last  life  on  earth  of 
the  Ego  concerned  ?  If  w^want  to  understand  super- 
physical  science,  we  nmif  get  utterly  rid  of  the  habit 
of  attaching  im-popmiCQ  to  magnitude.  An  atom 
may  put  a  new  .p^onality  in  touch  with  every  event 
in  the  life  if  was  identified  with  a  thousand  years 
previously.  But  we  need  not  here  plunge  into  a 
discussion  of  the  mysteries  connected  with  Nature's 
memory. 

If  we  now  turn  to  the  case  of  an  Ego  belonging  to 
the  cultured  minority  of  civilized  races,  the  Higher 
Self,  by  the  hypothesis,  is  more  fully  grown.  Some- 
thing more  than  in  the  other  case  clings  to  the 
permanent  atoms,  with  the  result  that  the  astral 
permanent  atom  gathers  round  it  (or  is  provided  by  the 
agents  of  Karma  with)  a  temporary  vehicle  of  astral 
consciousness,  which  strengthens  the  connection 
of  the  new  child's  body  with  the  Ego's  last  per- 
sonality.    Let  no  one  imagine  that  the  new  body 


142     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

becomes  all  at  once  a  vehicle  of  Ego-consciousness. 
For  the  first  seven  years  of  its  life,  the  baby  con- 
sciousness does  not  borrow  from  the  presiding  Astral 
any  streak  even  of  its  mature  capacity  for  thought 
and  emotion.  Nor  even  in  the  first  seven  years  does 
it  do  more  than  accomphsh  (under  guidance)  certain 
preliminary  processes  of  growth.  Only  when  another 
septenary  period  has  passed  does  the  child,  at 
fourteen,  begin  to  be  as  regards  its  astral  nature  the 
personality  of  the  former  hfe  over  again,  and  not 
until  a  third  septenary  period  has  passed  is  it  infused 
with  the  mentahty  of  the  former  life.  Then  the  Ego 
has  been  reincarnated,  except  for  what  remains  on 
higher  spiritual  levels  as  the  Higher  Self.  For, 
remember,  we  are  now  dealing  with  the  case  of  an 
entity  so  far  advanced  as  necessarily  to  have  developed 
through  many  former  lives  a  complicated  account 
with  Karma.  There  are  good  and  evil  forces  awaiting 
operation .  Capacities  of  varied  kinds  need  expression . 
It  may  not  be  possible  for  the  directing  Powers  to  find 
an  incarnation  in  which  all  these  forces  can  operate 
simultaneously.  Successive  lives,  surrounded  with 
very  different  circumstances,  may  be  required  to  work 
out  the  whole  intricate  problem.  But  the  great 
Powers  of  Nature  are  very  patient,  and  have  limitless 
time  at  their  disposal.  A  large  draft  upon  those 
resources  niust  be  made  when,  in  addition  to  the 
intricate  claims  of  an  advanced  Ego's  individual 
Karma,  Ms  love  ties  and  hostile  relationships  with 
other  Egos  have  to  be  provided  for.  But  the  manner 
in  which  Nature — the  living  mechanism  of  Divine 
Will — exhibits  a  power  of  combining  everything  with 
everj^thing  else,  is  for  a  thoughtful  observer  the  most 
dazzling  of  her  marvellous  attributes. 

The  familiar  phenomena  of  herediuty  illustrate  that 
last  remark.  When  a  child  growing  up  exhibits 
characteristics  resembling   those   of  parents   or  an- 


Our  Visits  to  this  World  143 

cestors,  he  is  sometimes  regarded  as  supporting  the 
idea  that  he  is  mentally  and  morally,  as  well  as 
physically,  the  product  of  his  parentage — a.  new  soul. 
In  reality  the  Powers  guiding  his  incarnation  have 
put  him  into  a  family  the  physical  heredity  of  which 
will  provide  him  with  a  body  capable  of  giving 
expression  to  his  indi"</idual  characteristics.  They 
have  been  able  ta  combine  that  provision  with  a  life- 
destiny  in. which  his  Karma  can  be  properly  worked 
out. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  peculiar  conditions  affecting 
the  reincarnation  of  people  well  advanced  along  that 
"  Path  "  of  abnormal  spiritual  progress,  leading  to 
initiation  into  levels  of  the  Divine  Hierarchy  which 
the  occult  student  refers  to  when  speaking  of  "  The 
Masters  "  of  Wisdom  and  Power.  At  a  certain  stage 
of  such  progress  the  Disciple,  in  fully  conscious  touch 
on  higher  planes  with  his  own  particular  Master,  is 
allowed,  by  the  Lords  of  Karma,  to  pass,  in  a  certain 
sense,  out  of  their  hands  and  to  be  guided  by  the 
Master  himself  into  his  next  incarnation.  By  the 
hypothesis  in  such  a  case  there  has  not  necessarily 
been  any  exhaustion  of  the  forces  providing  for  long 
terms  of  happy  rest  on  the  Astral  and  Manasic  planes. 
The  Disciple  is  willing  to  forgo  such  spiritual  enjoy- 
ments for  the  sake  of  getting  on,  returning  sooner 
than  he  is  obliged  to  the  working  condition  of  physical 
existence.  The  Master  finds  an  appropriate  oppor- 
tunity for  his  rebirth  in  a  family  the  circumstances 
of  which  will  fit  him  all  round,  provide  him  by  its 
physical  heredity  with  a  brain  qualified  to  express 
his  intellectual  or. .artistic  developments,  and  at  the 
same  time  involve  him  in  conditions  favourable  to  his 
further  spiritual  progress.  And  the  Disciple  is 
definitely  consulted  in  regard  to  the  choice.  Probably 
two  or  three  possible  incarnations  are  taken  into 
consideration,  and  the  Disciple,  we  may  be  sure,  in 


144     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

such  cases,  is  not  guided  in  his  choice  by  what  a  mere 
worldly  observer  would  regard  as  the  relatively 
attractive  prospect  offered  by  such  alternatives. 
Luxury,  comfort  even,  in  physical  life  is  regarded 
from  the  point  of  view  at  which  the  Disciple  is 
standing,  in  consultation  with  his  Master,  as  simply 
of  no  account.  The  question  is — which  proposed 
life  will  be  best  calculated  to  promote  real  spiritual 
progress  ?  Cases  are  known  in  which  humble  and 
arduous  incarnations  have  been  chosen  in  preference 
to  others  of  ease  and  far  superior  social  station. 

The  method  of  reincarnation  in  such  cases  will 
follow  the  ordinary  routine  in  one  way.  The  per- 
manent atoms  will  be  guided  to  their  destination  in 
the  mother  and  the  growing  child,  but  the  former 
personality  is  entirely  complete  all- the  time,  on  the 
Astral  plane,  looking  on  and  perliaps  being  able  to 
some  extent  to  influence  the  parents  in  the  treatment 
of  the  child,  who  will  most  likely  exhibit  psychic 
characteristics  of  an  unusual  order — though  for 
various  reasons  this  is  not  a  matter  of  certainty. 
Eventually,  by  the  time  the  child  has  attained  the 
age  of  fourteen  or  a  little  more,  and  has  grown  a  new 
astral  body  identified  in  appearanc&^.,with  the  new 
physical  body,  the  Astral  of  his  former*  personality 
will  be  discarded  and  the  new  life  will  fairly* J^egin, 
though  it  will  not  till  later  on  be  infused  with-  the 
intellectual  attributes  of  the  Ego. 

Infant  prodigies  are  not  necessarily,  or  even 
probably,  examples  of  the  peculiar  incarnations  just 
described.  When  wonderful  musical  faculties  are 
manifest  at  ridiculously  early  ages,  that  condition 
can  be  traced  to  the  impatience  of  the  musical  Ego 
to  express  itself  again  on  the  physical  plane.  Arith- 
metical prodigies  may  be  due  to  some  unusual 
capacity  in  the  new  brain  for  bringing  over  astral 
consciousness.     But  the  study  of  such  exceptional 


Our  Visits  to  this  World  145 

phenomena  lies  outside  the  effort  to  comprehend  the 
normal  working  of  the  laws  regulating  the  sufficiently 
intricate  problems  of  ordinary  reincarnation. 

The  importance  of  understanding  these  laws,  as 
far  as  that  is  possible,  cannot  be  overrated.  They 
lie  at  the  root  of  the  whole  scheme  of  human  evolu- 
tion. To  frame  theories  of  human  origin  and  destiny 
without  taking  them  into  account  would  be  like 
trying  to  explain  bodily  growth  without  compre- 
hending the  circulation  of  the  blood,  to  frame  a 
science  of  chemistry  without  including  oxygen  in  the 
catalogue  of  "  elements,"  to  explain  light  and  sound 
without  contemplating  the  idea  of  vibration.  Re- 
ligion, as  the  world  grows  wiser,  will  not  be  able  to 
do  without  some  comprehension  of  spiritual  science 
essential  to  the  permanent  maintenance  of  spiritual 
emotion,  of  religion  as  a  force  operative  on  conduct. 
Without  the  system  of  rebirth,  the  physical  world 
would  have  no  raison  d'etre.  If  spiritual  beatitude 
could  be  as  well  reached,  without  further  contact 
with  this  kind  of  life,  by  the  debased  savage,  the 
civilized  criminal,  and  the  altruistic  philanthropist, 
it  would  not  have  been  worth  while  for  the  Sun  to 
shine,  or  the  Earth  to  turn  round.  The  occultist 
knows  the  physical  world  to  be  the  climax  of  creative 
ingenuity.  On  lofty  planes  of  consciousness  Divine 
purposes  are  thought  out.  On  those  which  are  lower 
— in  only  one  sense — they  are  realized.  By  degrees 
the  realization  becomes  more  and  more  complete,  and 
the  Earth  itself  will  share  the  progress  of  the  humanity 
it  bears.  ^Eons  hence  humanity  will  be  con- 
templating the  results  of  this  progress.  To  part  it 
from  its  heritage  by  denying  it  (in  imagination; 
happily  that  cannot  be  done  in  reality)  the  right  to 
keep  in  touch  with  it,  is  to  blunder  into  making 
nonsense  of  the  whole  Divine  scheme,  in  a  way, 
moreover,  which  would  incidentally  cheat  the  loftier 


146     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

planes  of  consciousness  of  the  perfected  Egos  they  are 
awaiting,  in  reliance  on  the  plane  of  physical  mani- 
festation— the  nursing  home  of  our,  as  yet,  imperfect 
selves.  Those  whom  it  has  reared  successfully  are 
continually  outgrowing  the  need  of  its  guidance. 
Those  who  have  hardly  yet  profited  by  this  are  con- 
tinuously pouring  in.  The  human  family  is  a  large 
one,  though  collectively  a  mere  episode  in  Divine 
manifestation.  But  the  episode  is  sufficiently  elabo- 
rate and  varied  to  absorb  our  attention,  and  few 
of  its  aspects  are  better  worth  notice  than  those 
which  have  to  do  with  the  fundamental  principle 
governing  its  alternations  of  activity  and  rest,  opera- 
tive throughout  Nature  in  ways  innumerable — in 
winter  and  summer,  in  day  and  night,  in  sleeping 
and  waking,  and  in  our  constantly  renewed  touch  with 
the  physical  world  as  we  descend  from  realms  of  more 
refined  consciousness,  to  get  on  with  our  stupendous 
task  of  training  human  nature  to  be  Divine. 


THE  MASTERS  AND  THEIR  METHODS  OF 
INSTRUCTION 

The  splendid  development  of  the  Theosophical  Society 
all  over  the  world  has  naturally  given  rise  to  an  eager 
desire  on  the  part  of  earnest  Theosophists  for  detailed 
information  concerning  those  "  Elder  Brethren  "  of 
Humanity  whom  we  commonly  speak  of  as  "  The 
Masters."  At  first,  in  the  imagination  of  most  of  us, 
they  were  very  mysterious  entities.  The  Master 
"  K.  H.,"  of  whom  I  was  enabled  to  speak  in  the 
earliest  books  that  gave  the  world  a  glimpse  of  "  the 
White  Lodge  "  (to  use  a  conveniently  comprehensive 
expression),  remained  for  a  long  time  the  only  one  of 
His  glorious  Fraternity  whose  personality  was  in  any 
way  distinct  in  our  thoughts. 

Then  we  came  to  know  about  the  Master  "  M," 
whose  name  remained  partially  disguised  by  the 
initial.  But  some  of  us  have  had  touch,  during  the 
thirty-odd  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  Theo- 
sophical Society  took  root  as  a  permanent  organiza- 
tion, with  many  others  of  the  White  Lodge,  and, 
though  some  reserve  on  the  subject  still  seems 
desirable,  it  is  thought  equally  desirable  in  another 
direction  that  earnest  members  of  the  T.  S.  should 
be  able  to  form  a  clearer  mental  conception  of  the 
Master  condition — and  of  the  still  higher  levels  of 
initiation  beyond — than  is  provided  for  in  current 
theosophical  literature.  I  feel  sure,  moreover,  that 
the  Masters  Themselves  wish  to  be  better  understood 
in  the  Society  they  originated  than  was  generally 
possible  at  first.     My  present  purpose,  therefore,  is 

147 


148     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

to  deal  with  the  subject  more  freely  than  has  hitherto 
been  usual,  and  to  show  how  intimately  the  activities 
of  the  White  Lodge  are  blended  with  the  affairs  of 
the  world ;  how  the  Masters  are  much  more  numerous 
than  was  at  first  supposed,  and  how  They  specialize 
in  dealing  with  the  various  departments  of  human 
life,  while  working  together  in  absolute  harmony  of 
purpose ;  how  Their  Divine  aspect — as  we  regard  Them 
from  our  point  of  view — is  blended  with  an  intensely 
human  aspect  as  They  deal  with  us  individually,  and 
how  They,  in  turn,  are  guided  in  Their  action  by  the 
still  loftier  Will  above. 

We  cannot  overrate  Their  power  and  knowledge  if  we 
compare  it  with  our  own,  nor  can  we  overrate  Their 
limitation  if  we  endeavour,  in  imagination,  to  range 
the  highest  planes  of  consciousness  in  which  supreme 
Divine  law  prevails.  Again,  we  cannot  easily  do  justice 
to  Their  affectionate  sympathy  with  human  disciples 
struggling  upwards  towards  loftier  spiritual  life.  In 
that  way  Their  human  aspect  is  beautifully  manifest. 

The  Master  level  of  initiation  is  a  fairly  definite 
stage  on  the  path  of  spiritual  progress,  but  is  in  no 
sense  a  halting  place.  The  next  great  stage  (initia- 
tions beyond  common  comprehension  intervening) 
is  that  of  the  "  Fathers,"  as  they  are  called  (or  by  an 
equivalent  term  in  another  tongue).  And  I  am 
assured,  though  the  idea  is  utterly  beyond  incarnate 
understanding,  that  the  interval,  as  representing 
power,  knowledge,  and  cosmic  experience,  between 
the  condition  of  the  Master  and  that  of  the  Father 
is  not  less  than  that  between  an  ordinary  cultured 
man  of  our  race  and  the  Master.  Within  recent  years 
there  have  been  many  ascents  from  the  Master  to  the 
Father  level,  but  in  no  way  does  any  such  ascent  cut 
off  the  new  Father  from  the  disciple's  activities  and 
personal  attachments  of  Himself  when  in  the  Master 
condition.     From  our  point  of  view  He  is  the  Master 


Masters  and  their  Methods  of  Instruction    149 

still,  so  in  thinking  of  Those  we  may  know  we  need 
not  be  curious  concerning  Their  absolute  rank  in  the 
Mighty  Hierarchy. 

A  simple  fact  not  generally  known  throughout 
the  Society  is  this:  there  is  a  Master  definitely 
identified  with,  or,  in  charge  of,  every  great  country 
or  nationality  in  the  world.  Thus  I  have  had  some 
touch  with  an  English,  a  Scotch,  and  an  Irish  Master; 
also  with  an  American  Master,  indeed,  with  more 
than  one  specializing  in  the  Guardianship  of  the 
United  States.  I  know  also  of  an  Italian  and  a 
French  Master,  and  in  all  such  cases  the  Master  in 
question,  though  He  may  have  held  that  rank  for 
untold  ages,  and  may  have  used  many  physical  bodies 
in  the  past,  takes  incarnation  in  a  body  belonging  to 
the  nation  or  race  over  which  He  undertakes  to 
preside.  He  generally  resides  at  the  capital  of  that 
State,  and  this  custom  disposes  of  an  absurd  notion, 
prevalent  among  Theosophists  at  one  time  when  the 
Master  condition  was  very  imperfectly  understood, 
to  the  effect  that  no  "  adept  "  could  endure  the  evil 
magnetism  of  great  cities.  In  some  cases — and  we 
happened  to  hear  of  them  first — certain  Masters 
have  found  it  convenient,  so  far  as  Their  bodies  are 
concerned,  to  reside  in  remote  Himalayan  districts. 
Their  work  has  lain  altogether  on  higher  planes,  and 
all  about  the  world,  under  conditions  involving  the 
habitual  use  of  subtler  vehicles  of  consciousness,  but 
They  can,  and  sometimes  do,  materialize  in  the  midst 
of  crowded  humanity.  .  He  would  be  a  poor  "  Adept" 
who  could  not  shield  Himself  from  inferior  magnetic 
influences. 

Obviously,  by  the  laws  governing  the  occult  world, 
national  Masters  cannot  let  Themselves  be  known 
to  ordinary  people  round  Them  for  what  They  really 
are.  It  is  perfectly  hopeless  for  anyone  not  of  their 
own  order  to  try  and  identify  Them. 


150     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

In  order  to  guard  against  possible  confusion  of 
thought  on  the  part  of  my  readers,  let  me  remind 
them  that  of  course  there  is  a  being  of  the  Deva 
order  also  identified  with  each  great  nationality,  but 
he  is  on  a  different  line  of  evolution  altogether. 

During  happier  periods  of  the  past  there  was  a 
German  Master,  or  more  than  one,  but  since  Satan  has 
monopolized  spiritual  influence  in  Germany,  the 
White  Lodge  Masters  have  had  to  withdraw  from 
that  country.  The  resulting  condition  of  things 
could  only  be  elucidated  by  a  long  collateral  story 
into  which  I  have  no  time  to  diverge. 

One  Master,  whose  work  lies  chiefly  in  America,  has 
been  especially  active  in  helping  to  guard  the  transport 
ships  carrying  United  States  troops  to  France,  from 
torpedo  attacks  on  the  way.  The  black  and  white 
forces  on  the  higher  planes  are  each,  all  the  time, 
trying  to  bend  physical  forces  to  their  own  ends,  and 
the  way  in  which,  throughout  this  war,  the  powers 
of  the  whole  White  Lodge  have  been  strained  in 
resisting  the  Satanic  attack,  is  ill  understood  as  yet 
by  the  humanity  that  owes  its  escape  from  the  fatal 
disaster  to  that  tireless  protection.  The  Master  to 
whom  I  have  just  been  referring  has  been  identified 
with  the  American  continent  ever  since  it  was  part 
of  the  still  greater  continent  of  Atlantis.  He  is  linked, 
in  a  very  curious  way,  with  the  Atlantean  period. 
And  this  leads  me  to  speak  on  one  condition  associated 
with  Mastership  that  seems  at  first  very  bewildering. 
The  physical  bodies  of  the  Masters  often  attain  to 
extraordinary  ages,  to  be  counted  by  centuries,  rather 
than  by  years.  No  incomprehensible  miracle  is  really 
involved. 

During  our  youth  we  are  all  under  the  influence  of  a 
force  science  has  not  yet  catalogued,  which  makes 
for  growth  and  improvement.  When  we  are  grown 
up  it  continues  in  operation  for  a  time,  keeping  the 


Masters  and  their  Methods  of  Instruction    151 

body  in  good  working  order.  Then,  in  the  natural 
course  of  Hfe  at  this  stage  of  evolution,  that  force 
ceases  to  affect  us.  Old  age  sets  in,  etc.,  etc.  The 
Masters  understand  that  force,  among  Their  own 
intellectual  acquirements,  and  can  turn  it  on  or  off  at 
will.  As  long  as  it  is  turned  on  Their  bodies  do  not 
show  any  sign  of  age.  They  may  discard  one  body  and 
take  another  sometimes  for  reasons  connected  with 
Their  work,  but  They  are  not  under  any  natural 
obligations  to  do  so. 

It  is  well  for  ordinary  humanity  that  they  do  not 
know  how  to  perpetuate  physical  life.  At  this  stage 
of  our  development  our  bodies  are  not  worth  per- 
petuation, while,  if  we  make  the  best  good  use  of 
them  for  about  the  usual  time,  the  Karmic  law  will 
give  us  better  ones  for  our  next  physical  lives. 

Masters  not  definitely  linked  with  particular 
nations  may  range  the  world  at  large,  dealing  with  its 
needs  as  they  fall  within  the  scope  of  Their  speciality- 
Thus,  one  Master,  who  has  been  so  freely  spoken 
of  that  it  would  be  affectation  to  avoid  using  His 
name — the  Count  St.  Germain — has  been  busy  in 
Russia  ever  since  the  revolution  broke  out,  trying 
to  mitigate  its  hideous  development — with  poor  success 
hitherto,  I  think  He  would  be  first  to  admit.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  He  has  only  attained  the  Master 
level  in  this  life.  I  believe  He  has  been  on  that  level 
for  ages  gone  by,  but  He  has  been  taking  partial 
incarnation  for  the  past  few  centuries.  These  have 
been  traced  back  through  the  latest — Francis  Bacon 
— to  various  personalities  distinguished  during  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  mystery  is  a  little  beyond  common 
comprehension,  but  that  series  of  lives,  though 
certainly  a  continuous  series,  never  absorbed  more 
than  a  part  of  the  great  Spiritual  Master  in  the 
background.  I  am  assured  that  there  was  about 
a  third  of  Him  in  Francis  Bacon — a  very  magnificent 


152     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

incarnation  all  the  same.  Many  Masters  work  in  this 
way.  Indeed,  on  a  level  a  little  below  that  of  a  Master, 
the  arrangement  is  practicable.  And  a  Master,  if  He 
sees  fit,  can  run,  so  to  speak,  more  than  one  body  at 
the  same  time.  This  makes  the  identification  of  any 
particular  Master  on  the  physical  plane  a  matter  of 
extreme  difficulty. 

We  ought  to  understand  this  possibility  more  fulty. 
Masters  will  sometimes,  for  special  reasons,  take  in- 
carnation on  some  very  humble  human  level.  I  know 
of  one  deeply  impressive  case.  To  fulfil  some  purpose 
of  the  White  Lodge,  a  certain  Master  (not  to  be 
identified  with  any  hitherto  referred  to  in  Theo- 
sophical  literature)  took  birth  as  a  slave  in  Rome 
during  the  Domitian  period.  It  ultimately  came  to 
pass  that  he  was  driven  into  the  arena  of  the  Coliseum 
in  company  with  a  crowd  of  Christians,  to  be  de- 
voured by  wild  beasts.  Being  what  He  was,  He  could, 
of  course,  have  slipped  out  of  His  body  as  easily  as 
any  of  us  might  take  off  a  coat,  and  would  not  have 
been  at  all  inconvenienced  by  leaving  it  a  prey  for  the 
lions.  But  He  saw  that  by  staying  on  in  it,  and  using 
His  power  as  a  Master  to  pacify  the  agonized  appre- 
hensions of  the  crowd  around  Him,  He  could  save 
them  from  the  worst  sufferings  of  the  ordeal.  So 
He  remained,  and  (here  we  touch  another  mystery) 
by  drawing  into  Himself  the  vibrations  of  fear  from 
others,  actually  felt  himself  the  intense  pain  of  these 
vibrations.  He  allowed  Himself  to  be  consciously 
killed  by  a  lion. 

This  is  not  the  only  story  of  the  kind  I  could  quote, 
but  it  ought  to  be  enough  to  show  the  utter  selflessness 
("unselfish"  is  an  inadequate  word)  that  is  one  of  the 
sublime  attributes  of  the  Master  condition.  For  me, 
I  have  always  regarded  the  arena  incident  as  con- 
stituting the  most  wonderful  lesson  in  occult  ethics 
I  have  ever  received. 


Masters  and  their  Methods  or  Instruction    153 

The  Master  K.  H.,  to  whom  I  especially  belong,  is 
pre-eminently  concerned  with  the  spiritual  progress  of 
humanity.  That  is  why  we  find  Him  the  lofty  in- 
fluence peculiarly  connected  with  the  Theosophical 
Society.  In  Atlantean  ages  He  was  generally  to  be 
found  exercising  exalted  priestly  functions,  while 
His  great  "  brother  "  M.  (specializing  in  Power)  was 
generally  at  such  times  incarnated  as  a  great  King  or 
Emperor.  Another  Master — "  H."  will  serve  to 
identify  Him — is,  amongst  other  specialities,  in  charge 
of  the  movement  known  as  Spiritualism.  He  has  been 
in  charge  of  it  since  its  inception,  and  before,  for  it 
was  deliberately  planned  by  the  Great  White  Lodge 
collectively  to  control  the  growing  materialism  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  It  was,  as  definitely  as  Theos- 
ophy,  a  White  Lodge  Movement,  of  which  Theosophy 
was  planned  to  be  the  natural  sequel.  In  view  of  this 
state  of  things,  the  mutual  antagonism  on  this  plane 
of  Spiritualism  and  Theosophy  is  pitiably  ludicrous. 
Spiritualists,  refusing  to  believe  in  the  Masters  and 
Their  teachings,  are  fighting  against  their  own  illus- 
trious Chief.  Theosophists,  scoffing  at  Spiritualism, 
are  insulting  the  wise  policy  of  the  White  Lodge  they 
profess  to  revere  ! 

Again,  it  is  foolish  to  overlook  the  splendid  work 
in  the  world  spiritualists  have  done  in  convincing 
millions  that  there  is  another  plane  of  existence, 
another  life  after  this ;  and  it  is  marvellously  foolish 
of  spiritualists  to  spurn  the  gift  of  fuller  knowledge 
concerning  that  plane  and  life  offered  them  by 
Theosophy. 

Spiritualism  should  have  been  the  natural  highway 
leading  to  Theosophy,  if  the  relation  of  the  two  had 
not  been  grievously  mismanaged  on  this  plane  in  the 
beginning. 

Certain  members  of  the  Great  White  Lodge,  on  a 
very  high  level,  are  concerned  with  the  progress  of 


1 54     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

the  world  in  connection  with  science,  literature,  and 
art.  The  scientific  "  Master  "  (a  higher  designation 
would  be  more  suitable)  is  the  channel  through 
Whom  all  new  discovery  and  invention  (of  dignified 
kind)  naturally  flows.  He  inspires  discovery  at  the 
appropriate  times.  In  the  whole  Divine  programme 
great  blocks  of  natural  knowledge  are  marked  out  for 
dissemination  on  the  physical  plane  at  definite 
periods.  Discovery  is  never  allowed  to  outrun  these 
Divine  limitations.  It  may  overtake  them,  for  the 
Master  A.  (let  us  call  Him)  does  not  use  men  of  science 
as  automata  or  telephones.  He  watches  the  drift 
of  their  researches,  may,  indeed,  prompt  these,  and 
then  implants  in  some  receptive  mind  a  new  idea 
along  that  line  of  investigation.  That  does  not  in 
the  least  detract  from  the  merit  of  the  incarnate 
discoverer.  He  could  never  have  picked  jap  the 
inspiration  unless  he  had  developed  his  Eg^'capacity 
to  the  required  degree  of  perfection.      / 

I  know  less  about  the  way  in  whicli  the  artistic 
Masters  work,  and  will  not  attempt  to  describe  it. 

What  I  have  written  is  but  an  imperfect  sketch  of 
the  conceptions  I  have  been  able  to  form  of  the 
Masters  and  Their  work,  during  the  thirty-odd  years 
I  have  been  in  touch  with  Them,  never  more  closely 
than  now.  But  at  the  best  on  this  plane  of  con- 
sciousness we  can  only  get  a  feeble  grasp  of  some  of 
the  features  of  the  White  Lodge  life.  In  its  higher 
aspects  the  mere  physical  brain  cannot  deal  with  its 
conditions. 

If  the  only  purpose  that  the  Masters  had  in  view, 
when  beginning  to  give  some  of  us  "  instruction  "  in 
certain  occult  mysteries,  had  been  our  instruction,  in 
the  literal  sense  of  the  word,  their  method  would 
undeniably  have  been  open  to  criticism.  They  set  us 
no  lessons  to  learn;  they  merely  indicated  a  willing- 
ness to  answer  questions  if  these   did  not  seek  in- 


Masters  and  their  Methods  of  Instruction    i  55 

formation  of  a  kind  They  were  forbidden  to  dis- 
close. If  we  imagine  that  system  adopted  in  physical 
plane  schools  a  boy  desirous  of  learning  arithmetic 
would  fare  as  follows :  "  What  do  you  want  to  know  ?" 
the  master  would  ask.  The  boy,  utterly  ignorant  of 
where  to  begin,  might  say,  "  I  have  seen  a  queer  mark 
in  arithmetic  books.  Looks  like  a  V  with  a  line  at 
one  end.  What  does  it  mean  ?"  The  master  would 
say,  "  That  is  the  sign  of  a  square  root,  and  it  means 
the  figure  which  multiplied  by  itself  would  give  the 
figure  you  see."  The  boy  might  put  away  that  piece 
of  information  for  future  use,  but  ignorant,  so  far, 
of  multiplication,  would  not  all  at  once  be  much 
wiser. 

Without  being  a  gross  caricature  of  the  facts  that 
is  the  way  we — for  in  the  beginning  I  worked  with  a 
friend  who  afterwards  dropped  out  of  the  Theosophical 
movement — obtained  the  instruction  that  ulti- 
mately led  to  the  production  of  Esoteric  Buddhism. 
On  the  face  of  things,  looking  back,  it  really  does 
seem  absurd.  We  felt  that  we  were  in  close  touch 
with  almost  infinite  wisdom  and  knowledge,  and  we 
plunged  into  some  of  the  most  enormous  problems 
of  human  evolution .  ' '  How  did  humanity  originate  ? '  * 
{We  got  a  clue  to  the  existence  of  other  worlds 
besides  this.)  "  What  other  worlds  ?"  (We  got  a 
clue  to  the  planetary  chain.)  We  asked  innumerable 
questions  about  it.  We  wanted  to  know  how  to 
become  a  Master.  Got  very  little  satisfaction  along 
that  line  of  inquiry.  So  on,  and  so  on.  Really,  look- 
ing back,  I  am  surprised  I  did  not  make  a  worse  hash 
of  the  teaching  than  my  earliest  book  is  responsible 
for.     Why  was  all  this  thus  ? 

Firstly,  there  seems  to  be  a  settled  habit  in  the 
occult  world  defining  teaching  as  a  response  to 
inquiry.  Our  method  is  so  different,  because  for  the 
most  part  instruction  has  to  be  rammed  into  unwilling 


156     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

pupils.  There  are  no  unwilling  pupils  in  the  occult 
world,  and  knowledge  is  most  firmly  implanted  when 
it  comes  in  response  to  a  definite  desire  for  know- 
ledge. 

Secondly,  the  purpose  of  the  Masters  in  making  the 
great  Theosophical  experiment  was  not  to  put  the 
world  into  possession  of  occult  knowledge,  but  to 
train  those  who  proved  qualified  by  developing 
appropriate  aspiration  to  become  like  the  Masters 
morally,  as  far  as  possible,  so  that  they  might  ascend 
the  path  of  spiritual  progress.  Some  glimpses  of  the 
intellectual  delights  attending  such  progress  might 
be  held  out — ^had  to  be  held  out,  or  the  experiment 
was  bound  to  fail.  The  Masters  had  a  very  delicate 
task  to  perform  at  first,  in  deciding  how  much 
knowledge  to  give  out  along  the  line  of  this  idea; 
how  resolutely  to  withhold  knowledge  that  might 
be  misused.  My  own  beloved  Chief,  who  amongst 
other  attributes  is  the  embodied  essence  of  human 
kindliness,  has  told  me  how  he  used  to  sympathize 
with  my  annoyance  when  He  had  to  refuse  to  answer 
some  of  my  questions.  The  time  came  when  the 
motive  for  such  refusals  was  much  less  operative. 
That  change  accounts  for  the  way  in  which,  during 
the  last  ten  or  fifteen  j^ears,  I  have  been  able  to  expand 
the  original  teaching  (or  what  passed  for  it)  enor- 
mously, with  the  very  curious  result  that  a  good 
many  theosophical  students  poring  over  the  earlier 
books,  the  Secret  Doctrine  especially,  cling  to  the 
impressions  derived  from  those  earlier  books,  and 
resent  the  idea  of  having  them  enlarged  or,  perhaps^ 
in  some  cases,  corrected. 

It  really  did  not  matter  at  first  whether  people 
had  correct  or  incorrect  notions  about  planetary 
chains,  manvantaras,  root  races,  and  their  periods ;  of 
elemental  nature,  or  the  condition  of  the  world  in 
earlier  rounds.     It  was  important  that  the}'-  should 


Masters  and  their  Methods  of  Instruction    157 

get  something  like  a  clear  idea  of  the  way  in  which 
the  Divine  Hierarchy — ^represented  for  us  by  our 
Elder  Brethren,  whom  we  now  call  the  Masters — 
brooded  always  over  the  world's  welfare,  and  held 
out  Their  hands  to  all  worthy  aspirants  eager,  or 
capable  of  growing  eager,  to  join  that  splendid 
fraternity. 

Why  did  that  first  book.  Esoteric  Buddhism,  start 
the  Theosophical  movement  in  the  Western  world  as, 
in  effect,  it  did  ?  Because  it  made  people  think  of 
the  Masters,  and  gave  Them  an  opportunity  of 
thinking  back,  thus  pouring  an  extremely  important 
influence  into  the  world.  A  deep  occult  truth  under- 
lies that  idea.  No  one  gets  direct  personal  notice 
or  guidance  from  the  Masters  unless  he  looks  up 
to  Them  consciously  in  search  of  it,  in  the  first 
instance.  He  cannot  do  this  unless  he  knows 
something  about  them  to  guide  his  thoughts.  The 
earliest  book  gave  multitudes  a  hint  of  Their  ex- 
istence; made  the  readers  think  of  the  Masters,  how- 
ever vaguely.  This  gave  them  Their  opportunity. 
,  They  shed  back  influences  upon  those  who  thought  of 
Them.  Few  of  us  have,  even  now,  more  than  a  very 
imperfect  conception  of  thought  as  a  power.  The 
thoughts  that  flew  back  and  forward  among  readers 
of  the  earlier  books  gave  rise  to  the  Theosophical 
Society.  A  long  time  elapsed  before  the  Higher 
Powers  felt  sure  that  it  would  last.  Many  people 
imagine  that  it  was  founded  in  1875.  Look  back 
to  the  first  volume  of  Isis  Unveiled  (p.  12  of  the 
Introduction),  and  reconsider  that  impression.  It 
was  not  until  nearly  ten  years  later  that  the  Society 
began  to  excite  real  interest  in  the  Western  world, 
and  nearly  another  ten  years  elapsed  before  it  was 
so  firmly  rooted  that  the  Masters  could  regard  it 
as  an  accomplished  fact.  In  the  interval  between  the 
early  eighties  and  the  early  nineties  it  went  through 


158     Collected  Fruits  or  Occult  Teaching 

vicissitudes   that   almost   killed   it   outright,   but   it 
survived  them,  and  its  life  became  assured. 

Then  it  was  that  restrictions,  frightfully  in  my 
way  at  first,  faded  away.  Certainly  the  Masters 
could  not  even  then  give  out  to  the  world  at  large 
what  are  called  the  secrets  of  initiation,  but,  as  far 
as  pure  knowledge  of  natural  law,  the  course  of  human 
evolution,  the  conditions  of  other  worlds  and  their 
relations  with  our  own,  the  details  of  super-physical 
schemes  in  relation  to  rebirth,  after-death  experiences, 
progress  on  the  Path,  etc.,  etc.,  all  these  subjects 
were  thrown  open  to  our  inquiries,  and  the  result  has 
been  the  enormous  expansion  of  our  knowledge 
exhibited  in  writings  some  of  us  have  been  able  to 
put  forth  during  the  last  dozen  years. 

A  great  deal  of  important  teaching  came  through 
during  the  latter  end  of  the  critical  period  before  the 
restrictions  above  referred  to  were  altogether  swept 
away.  The  years  from  1885  to  about  1902  were 
remarkable  years  in  connection  with  instruction 
from  the  Masters.  The  early  London  Lodge  included 
during  those  years  a  good  many  earnest  and  qualified 
students,  among  them  Mr.  Leadbeater  and  Mrs. 
Besant.  And  I  had  the  advantage  of  touch  with  my 
own  Master  through  an  appropriate  channel.  The 
long  series  of  London  Lodge  Transactions  which 
appeared  during  those  years  will  be  seen,  by  anyone 
who  looks  back,  to  be  milestones  on  the  road  leading 
to  the  state  of  theosophical  knowledge  at  the  end  of 
the  period  they  covered.  All  they  contained  has 
long  since  been  absorbed  into  theosophical  literature. 
Only  for  those  who  may  care  to  trace  the  history  of 
our  teaching  can  they  have  an  interest  now.  The 
new  series  of  London  Lodge  Transactions,  beginning  in 
1 91 3,  are  on  a  different  footing.  They  have  to  do 
with  later  corrections  and  additions  to  the  earlier 
teaching  obtained  in  very  recent  years. 


Masters  and  their  Methods  of  Instruction    159 

This  light  sketch  of  the  history  of  our  theosophical 
education  will,  perhaps,  help  to  make  some  em- 
barrassments intelligible.  Few ^  students  can  be  in 
constant  touch  with  every  fragment  of  theosophical 
information  that  finds  its  way  into  print,  and  though 
some  of  us  are  keenly  interested  in  Occult  Science — 
knowledge,  that  is  to  say,  of  super-physical  Nature 
and  its  marvellous  machinery  of  law — that  interest 
is  by  no  means  felt  with  the  same  intensity  by  all. 
The  Masters,  in  my  opinion,  would  be  the  last  people 
to  wish  that  it  should  be  the  main  object  of  pursuit 
for  members  of  the  Society  in  general. 

And  yet  that  cannot  be  attained  without  some 
appreciation  of  the  great  Divine  scheme  of  which 
we  are  a  part . 

It  is  desirable  that  all  should  absorb  as  much  as 
they  conveniently  can  of  the  magnificent  Occult 
Science  that  explains  our  place  in  Nature  and  the 
possibilities  of  our  future  growth.  Broad,  vague 
impressions  on  these  subjects  are,  however,  enough  to 
give  colour  and  meaning,  so  to  speak,  to  efforts 
we  may  all  make  toward  living  up  to  the  ethical 
teachings  from  the  Master  level,  the  comprehension 
of  which  puts  no  strain  on  even  the  most  humble 
estimate  we  can  form  of  our  intellectual  capacity. 


EXPANDED  THEOSOPHICAL  KNOWLEDGE 

First  I  propose  to  deal  with  the  great  mystery  of 
Consciousness,  one  which  at  the  first  glance  seems  the 
most  unfathomable  of  any  we  have  to  study;  then 
to  set  forth,  in  fuller  detail  than  has  hitherto  been 
found  possible,  the  actual  present  condition  of  human 
life  on  the  planetary  chain  to  which  we  belong, 
and  thirdly,  to  show  how  our  comprehension  of  the 
realm  immediately  in  touch  with  the  physical  life, 
though  just  beyond  its  boundaries,  the  Astral  world, 
has  been  developed  to  an  extent  that  we  never 
attempted  to  reach  when  Theosophical  study  thirty- 
five  years  ago  was  mainly  directed  towards  still  wider 
horizons. 

I. — ^The  Nature  of  Consciousness 

Consciousness  is  recognized  by  all  physiological 
students  as  a  mystery  they  do  not  attempt  to  explain. 
We  can  trace  the  activities  of  life  back  through  the 
muscles  and  the  nerves,  back  to  the  brain,  but  whence 
came  the  original  impulses  in  obedience  to  which  the 
brain  set  the  nerves  to  work  on  the  muscles  ?  That 
question  is  left  aside  as  relating  to  a  mystery  beyond 
human  understanding.  Nor  shall  I  attempt  to  clear 
up  the  mystery  in  the  way  we  can  sometimes  accom- 
plish this  when  dealing  with  purely  physical  pheno- 
mena; we  must  be  content  to  treat  Consciousness  as 
the  fundamental  Divine  Principle  of  all  manifestation, 
but  the  illuminating  idea  which  I  want  to  convey, 
is  that  Divine  Consciousness,  itself,  is,  in  its  nature, 
identical  with  any  consciousness  of  which  we  can  take 

i6o 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge      16 1 

cognizance;  that  in  a  word  there  is  only  one  kind  of 
Consciousness  in  all  creation — the  Consciousness  of 
God,  working  through  vehicles  of  varying  capacity. 
Limited  as  we  feel  our  own  consciousness  to  be,  it  is 
in  its  nature  identical  with  that  of  Infinite  Divinity, 
as  in  the  other  direction  with  that  of  animal  and  even 
vegetable  life.  That  which  may  be  thought  of  as  the 
efficient  value  of  consciousness  depends  upon  the 
vehicle  in  which  it  is  working.  Within  the  body  of 
a  sheep  its  limitations  are  narrow  indeed,  within 
that  of  an  enlightened  human  being  they  seem 
enormously  widened;  but  whether  we  go  down  in 
thought  far  below  the  sheep  level,  or  ascend  in 
imagination  far  above  the  human  condition,  we  shall 
find  that  the  vehicle  of  consciousness  in  all  cases 
determines  the  extent  to  which  consciousness  itself 
can  range  over  the  infinitude  of  knowledge. 

When  Darwin  first  started  the  evolutionary  theory, 
some  of  us  were  inclined  to  regard  him  as  having  made 
the  mistake  of  concerning  himself  with  vehicles  alone, 
ignoring  the  concurrent  evolution  of  intellectual  and 
spiritual  capacity.  Without,  perhaps,  fully  realizing 
the  magnitude  of  his  own  achievement,  he  was  em- 
bracing in  his  view  of  nature  both  the  physical  and 
super-physical  processes  of  evolution.  Although  by 
profound  study  the  process  can  be  comprehended  even 
at  the  level  of  its  obscure  beginnings,  the  principle 
is  better  grasped  if  we  confine  our  attention  to  the 
development  of  consciousness  in  the  human  being. 
By  what  law  is  the  gradual  improvement  of  the 
vehicle  as  time  goes  on  provided  for  ?  Putting  the 
answer  in  a  brief  phrase,  susceptible  of  further 
development  in  detail,  the  law  is  that  when  conscious- 
ness within  any  given  vehicle  exerts  itself  to  the 
utmost,  or  in  other  words,  makes  the  best  use  of  the 
vehicle  in  which  it  finds  itself  at  any  given  time, 
the  law — really  a  part  of  the  great  aggregation  of 


i62     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

Karmic  laws — ^proceeds  to  invest  that  volume  of 
consciousness,  that  Ego,  with  a  better  vehicle  for 
its  next  physical  manifestation. 

I  must  here  quote  a  line  or  two  from  Tennyson, 
whose  poetry,  as  we  grow  to  appreciate  it,  is  saturated 
with  occult  knowledge.  He  writes  in  one  fragment 
to  be  found  in  almost  the  last  published  volume  of 
his  works : — 

The  Lord  let  the  house  of  a  brute  to  the  soul  of  a  man; 

And  man  said,  "  Am  I  Your  debtor  ?" 
The  Lord — "Not  yet;  but  make  it  as  clean  as  you  can. 

And  then  I  will  let  you  a  better." 

In  these  compact  lines  we  have  the  whole  idea  I 
want  to  convey  suggested,  if  not  elaboratel}''  expressed. 
"  Make  it  as  clean  as  you  can  "  means,  of  course, 
make  the  best  use  of  it,  and  establish  a  Karmic  claim 
on  an  improved  house  or  vehicle.  We  see  the  system 
working  as  we  study  the  principles  of  Reincarnation, 
working,  of  course,  like  most  processes  in  Nature  in 
what  seems  at  the  first  glance  a  lopsided  fashion. 
The  lover  of  music  makes  the  best  use  of  his  musical 
faculties  in  the  life  when  that  desire  first  governs  him, 
and,  while  perhaps  neglecting  other  possibilities  of 
improvement,  he  obtains  in  his  next  life  a  vehicle 
better  adapted  to  the  expression  of  musical  thought. 
So  with  any  other  line  of  human  activity.  The  lover 
of  physical  science  finds  life  after  life  his  capacity 
for  comprehending  the  laws  of  physical  nature  ever 
and  ever  improving;  the  philanthropist,  uncon- 
sciously to  himself,  is  imbuing  his  permanent  atoms 
with  an  ever-increasing  eagerness  to  benefit  his 
fellow-creatures.  Down  to  the  minor  developments 
of  intellectual  capacity,  the  study  of  mathematics 
or  philology,  the  same  invariable  principle  may  be 
discerned.  No  one  can  in  one  life  clean  all  the 
rooms  in  his  house — to  follow  Tennyson's  metaphor; 
but   b}'  degrees  all  in  turn  will  be  found  to  have 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge     163 

claimed  his  attention,  with  the  ultimate  result  that 
the  Ego  acquires  a  vehicle  of  consciousness  perfected 
beyond  the  needs  of  commonplace  life,  and  passes  into 
the  ranks  of  Those  we  know  something  of,  the  Masters 
of  Wisdom. 

As  one  burst  of  sunshine  may  illumine  a  landscape 
previously  obscured  by  shadow,  this  simple  idea 
seems  to  clear  up  whole  realms  of  vague  speculation 
concerning  the  processes  we  commonly  refer  to  by 
the  vague  term  '*  evolution."  And  by  the  light  so 
shed  on  the  whole  subject,  we  begin  to  put  a  scientific 
face  upon  a  vast  range  of  cloudy  speculation  embodied 
sometimes  in  the  phrase  "  The  Immanence  of  God  in 
Nature."  Imagination,  of  course,  reaches  out 
vaguely  towards  the  supreme  problem:  What  is  the 
nature  of  the  vehicle  within  which  Divine  Conscious- 
ness works  ?  and  in  that  direction,  at  present,  at  all 
events,  it  is  useless  for  us  to  aspire.  But  fully  appre- 
ciated, the  present  interpretation  of  consciousness 
gives  unity  and  meaning  to  the  whole  design  of 
creation  from  mineral  manifestation  upward  through 
organized  life  to  infinitudes  beyond.  It  will  be  found 
to  harmonize  with  every  great  idea  that  Theosophical 
thought  has  been  endeavouring  to  deal  with.  A  com- 
pact phrase  I  have  often  been  fond  of  quoting  rests 
in  its  significance  on  the  principle  I  have  been  en- 
deavouring to  define:  "  Whatever  is,  is,  has  been, 
or  will  be,  human."  At  the  first  glance  the  value  of 
the  phrase  seems  to  reside  in  the  promise  it  holds  forth 
that  all  human  creatures  may  aspire  in  thinking  of 
the  possibilities  that  await  them  towards  absolute 
infinitudes  of  glorified  existence;  and  it  does  that, 
but  it  puts,  so  to  speak,  a  scientific  face  upon  the 
magnificent  prospect,  and  it  fits  in  with  every  idea 
we  have  been  taught  to  work  with  concerning  the 
dependence  of  progress  on  individual  exertion.  No 
one  is  lifted  to  a  loftier  level  of  being  than  that  on 


164     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

which  he  finds  himself  at  any  given  moment,  by  any 
Power  exterior  to  himself.  Helped  by  suggestion  1 
Yes,  we  may  all  welcome  such  help  as  that;  we  can 
none  of  us  dispense  with  it;  but  the  suggestion  must 
in  all  cases  be  a  hint  pointing  to  individual  exertion. 
Actual  progress  in  every  case  must  be  the  product 
of  individual  will  and  effort,  the  effort  to  make  the 
maximum  use  of  life's  opportunities;  or,  in  other 
words,  of  the  vehicle  in  which  consciousness  for  the 
time  being  is  working. 

Hardly  any  of  the  misty  thoughts  in  which  old- 
fashioned  psychology  indulged  will  remain  clouded 
by  vagueness  when  the  principle  I  am  dealing  with 
gives  them  definite  shape. 

I  will  venture  on  a  subtle  illustration  of  this  idea. 
Thinkers  who  rather  resent  than  aspire  to  clearly 
defined  knowledge  concerning  the  spiritual  aspect 
of  their  own  nature,  are  often  fond  of  treating  Christ 
as  a  state  of  consciousness.  "  The  awakening  of 
the  Christ  within  us,"  or  some  such  vague  inter- 
pretation of  the  idea,  is  held  preferable  to  any  specific 
knowledge  concerning  the  levels  in  the  Divine 
Hierarchy  at  which  we  find  definitely  in  manifestation 
a  Being  from  whom  the  Christ  Principle  actually 
emanates.  ^Attached  as  many  thinkers  are  to  the 
cloudiness  bf  mysticism,  the  recognition  of  such  a 
specific  Being  seems  to  them  to  degrade  the  idea, 
and  yet  with  the  knowledge  concerning  the  Divine 
Hierarchy  that  has  been  in  Theosophical  possession 
almost  since  the  beginning,  we  know  that  there  is  a 
specific  Being  at  a  certain  level  within  the  Divine 
Hierarchy  of  the  Solar  System,  to  whom  we  may 
definitely  look  up  as  the  conscious  source  of  all 
spiritual  influence. /This  clear  knowledge,  far  from 
degrading  the  aspn-ation  in  each  individual  Ego  to 
comprehend  spirituality,  is  just  as  superior  to  the 
state  of  mind  with  which  the  mystic  is  content,  as  the 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge     165 

landscape  illuminated  by  sunshine  is  superior  to  the 
dim  suggestion  of  partial  obscurity,  i  Undoubtedly  in 
attrgseafch  or  teaching  connected  with  spiritual  truth 
mysteries  still  lie  beyond  any  that  are  being  by  degrees 
cleared  up — stretching  beyond  these  to  all  Infinity; 
but  the  more  our  knowledge  is  expanded,  the  better 
we  realize  that  cloudiness  of  thought,  uncertainty 
as  we  gaze  upward,  vagueness  of  expression  as  we 
attempt  to  put  aspiration  into  words,  are  merely  due  , 
to  want  of  further  knowledge.  As  definite  andj 
precise  as  our  knowledge  has  now  become  in  reference 
to  the  simple  phenomena  of  chemistry,  so  defined 
and  precise  to  a  higher  understanding  must  the 
conditions  of  spiritual  life  ultimately  become,  though 
to  the  ordinary  human  brain  they  must  long  remain 
incomprehensible.  There  is  no  inherent  value  in 
cloudiness  of  thought.  That  which  we  ought  all  to 
be  aiming  at  in  dealing  with  any  of  the  mysteries 
hitherto  embraced  by  the  vague  term  "  occultism  " 
is  clearness  and  precision  of  understanding.  The 
Truth,  if  we  could  comprehend  it,  is  as  clear  and 
precise  as  any  of  those  simpler  truths  of  nature  within 
our  grasp,  and  the  task  before  us  is  not  that  of 
continuing  to  treat  spiritual  research  as  something 
too  sacred  to  be  cramped  by  outline  or  form.  There 
can  be  no  spiritual  truth  so  exalted  and  for  us  at  the 
moment  incomprehensible,  which  does  not  have  as 
clear  an  outline  and  as  defined  a  mental  shape  for 
consciousness  working  in  appropriate  vehicles  as  the 
simpler  relationships  of  molecular  physics  already 
have  for  ourselves. 

2. — The  Planetary  Chain 

The  first  idea  we  had  about  the  progress  of  life  on 
planetary  chains  was,  looking  back  upon  it,  all  we 
could  be  expected  to  understand  at  the  first  blush* 
It  was  a  huge  expansion  of  the  elementary  idea  that 


1 66     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

this  world  was  the  beginning  of  all  things,  and  that 
its  gradual  creation  could  be  traced  in  the  famihar 
language  of  scripture. 

The  very  notion  of  planetary  chains  was  an  entirely 
new  one  which  had  to  be  assimilated  by  degrees,  and 
has  needed  in  later  years  very  elaborate  explanation. 
The  planetary  chain  that  we  belong  to  consists, 
as  the  early  teaching  showed,  of  seven  globes,  the  first 
and  last  on  the  Manasic  level,  two  others  below  these 
on  the  Astral  level,  three  on  the  physical  plane.  We 
jumped  to  the  conclusion  in  the  beginning  that  all 
planetary  chains  were  alike,  consisting  of  seven 
globes,  and  the  idea  has  unhappily  permeated 
Theosophical  literature  to  that  extent  that  it  has 
misled  many  thinkers.  It  is  really  only  the  middle 
chain  of  a  manvantaric  series  that  consists  of  seven 
planets;  in  the  previous  Manvantara  a  chain  had 
only  five;  in  the  one  before  it,  only  three;  and  in  the 
one  before  that,  only  one.  I  will  not  stop  to  work 
out  this  idea  in  all  its  scientific  beauty.  A  mere  hint 
will  be  enough  to  show  how  the  whole  series  of 
Manvantaras  is  a  harmonious  conception  beginning 
with  the  Divine  Thought — the  first  Manasic  globe — 
culminating  in  some  supreme  results  that  are  beyond 
our  present  comprehension  in  that  far-away  future 
when  the  whole  series  will  be  complete.  But  keeping 
our  attention  fixed  for  the  moment  on  our  present 
planetary  chain  of  seven  globes,  the  first  idea  we  have 
to  realize  is  that,  when  we  were  told  in  the  beginning 
about  the  great  life  wave  sweeping  on  from  world 
to  world,  and  for  the  present  occupying  this  earth, 
we  were  put  in  possession  of  a  broad  idea  which  is 
perfectly  true,  but  which  requires  elaboration.  The 
main  part  of  the  human  family  to  which  we  belong 
does  occupy  this  earth  at  the  present  time,  but  during 
the  various  rounds  of  progress  which  have  been  going 
on  for  an  almost  incalculable  past,  the  family  has 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge      167 

to  a  certain  extent  straggled  over  the  whole  series  of 
worlds  constituting  the  Chain.  At  present  we  shall 
find  it  impossible  to  understand  the  conditions  of 
life  on  the  super-physical  planets,  and  we  may  leave 
them  out  of  account  for  the  moment ;  but  on  the' three 
physical,  including  Mars  behind  us  and  Mercury  in 
advance  of  us,  the  human  family  is  now  distributed 
— part  of  it  already  established  on  Mercury,  part  left 
behind  on  Mars.  The  explanation  is  simple.  While 
the  great  majority  swept  forward  to  this  earth,  the 
laggard  remnant  not  yet  qualified  for  incarnation  here 
remains  on  the  planet  Mars,  a  superior  vanguard 
already  getting  forward  to  the  planet  in  advance. 
The  retarded  condition  of  the  Martian  remnant — 
counted,  of  course,  by  a  fairly  large  number  of 
millions — consists  of  those  who  have  (reverting  to  my 
former  explanation  about  consciousness)  failed  to 
make  the  exertions  required  for  the  acquisition  of 
superior  vehicles. y/There  is  no  vehicle  of  human 
consciousness  on  this  earth  amongst  even  the  lowest 
savages  that  is  not  definitely  superior  in  some 
important  ways  to  the  vehicles  of  consciousness  now 
inhabiting  Marsy/Strange  to  say,  as  often  happens 
on  the  downward  arc,  some  capacities  are  still  active 
amongst  them,  which  enable  them  to  do  things  that 
we  ourselves,  in  spite  of  our  superior  development, 
are  unable  to  accomplish.  The  Martian  people  can 
handle  matter  by  arts  that  we,  to  a  certain  extent,  have 
lost,  though  the  use  of  such  arts  does  not  represent 
superior  intelligence  any  more  than  a  spider's  capacity 
to  make  a  web  that  no  human  art  could  imitate, 
represents  intellectual  superiority  on  the  part  of  the 
spider.  Morally,  the  condition  of  the  Martian  people 
is  below  any  level  that  we  can  easily  comprehend. 
Their  forms  are  to  our  more  cultivated  taste  gro- 
tesquely ugly,  and  they  practically  exemplify  a  saying 
applied   with   less    appropriateness   to   some   savage 


1 68     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

races  of  our  own  globe:  "  manners  they  have  none, 
and  their  customs  are  beastly."  The  animal  hfe 
on  Mars  is  at  a  low  level,  corresponding  to  that  of  the 
people.  It  is  purely  reptilian  in  its  character,  and  the 
development  of  taste  amongst  the  people  may  be 
imagined  from  the  fact  that  their  food  consists  of  the 
blood  of  the  reptiles  swarming  in  the  vast  inland 
lakes  commonly  called  canals,  with  which  the  habit- 
able portions  of  the  planet  are  covered. 

Even  amongst  the  Martians  the  evolutionary  law 
which  presses  gradually  on  the  multitude  is  slowly 
working.  Some  Egos — for  already  the  Martians  must 
be  thought  of  as  human — ^gradually  establish  claims 
on  a  better  vehicle  of  consciousness  than  those  around 
them,  and  then  they  become  qualified  for  incar- 
nation on  this  earth,  and  are  brought  over  under  the 
guidance  of  appropriate  emissaries  from  the  White 
Lodge  in  batches  sometimes  of  fairly  considerable 
number.  I  have  heard  of  a  recent  case  in  which 
within  the  last  year  or  two,  a  batch  of  about  a 
hundred  thousand  Martian  Egos  were  imported  into 
this  world,  finding  incarnation,  some  of  them,  in  the 
aborigines,  as  they  are  called,  of  Australia,  some  in 
the  lowest  types  of  Central  Africa,  the  best  of  them 
amongst  the  populations  of  Central  Asia. 

The  conditions  on  the  other  hand  involving  the 
premature  migration  of  Egos  from  this  earth  to 
Mercury  are  curious  and  interesting  when  under- 
stood, but  at  this  step  of  the  explanation  it  will  be 
more  convenient  to  stop  and  take  a  new  departure 
having  to  do  with  the  relations  of  the  various  planetary 
systems  or  chains  of  our  Solar  System  with  one 
another. 

Even  in  the  first  sketches  of  occult  teaching,  as 
soon  as  the  notion  of  the  planetary  chain  had  been 
established  in  the  mind,  it  became  clear  that  Egos 
evolving  around  any  given  planetary  chain,  granting 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge     169 

free  will  to  each,  must  work  out , different  destinies. 
Some  Egos  would  advance  more  rapidly  than  others, 
so  that  at  a  fairly  advanced  stage  in  the  whole  process 
there  would  be  immense  intervals  of  conditions  between 
those  in  the  vanguard  and  those  in  the  rear.  Then 
it  was  explained  that  at  a  certain  stage  in  the  develop- 
ment of  any  given  planetary  chain  some  would  have 
fallen  so  far  back,  as  compared  with  their  more 
persevering  companions,  that  physical  progress  for 
the  best  would  have  advanced  to  a  condition  in  which 
the  worst  would  not  be  qualified  to  make  use  of  the 
forms  then  in  process  of  development.  In  other 
words,  and  in  the  rougher  language  of  our  first 
explanations,  a  period  is  inevitable  in  each  planetary 
scheme  when  those  who  cannot  advance  farther 
drop  off  from  the  main  current  of  evolution,  only  those 
who  have  made  better  use  of  their  opportunities 
reaching  onwards  towards  the  final  possibilities  of 
their  existence.  This  period  used  to  be  spoken  of  as 
the  critical  period  of  the  fifth  Round,  and  for  a  long 
time  no  information  reached  us  as  to  what  would  be 
the  final  destiny,  in  the  case  of  our  own  planetary 
scheme,  of  those  who  would  fall  off  from  evolution 
at  that  remote  period  far  ahead  of  us,  the  middle 
of  the  Round  destined  to  succeed  that  with  which 
we  are  at  present  concerned. 

Later  information  filled  up  this  gap  in  our  know- 
ledge, and  in  so  doing  threw  a  flood  of  light  upon  the 
constitution  of  the  Solar  System  as  a  whole .  Obviously 
the  senior  planetary  scheme,  of  which  Venus  is  the 
physical  world,  has  long  since  passed  that  critical 
period,  although  for  us  it  lies  so  far  still  in  the  future. 
Already  the  course  of  events  must  have  decided  the 
fate  of  the  failures  of  Venus  at  the  critical  period,  and 
the  answer  given  me,  when  I  was  eventually  enabled 
to  put  the  question,  at  once  showed  how  various 
planetary  chains  of  the  Solar  System  are  not  to  be 


I  JO     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

regarded  as  entirely  independent  undertakings. 
They  are  linked  together  in  an  extremely  intelligible 
fashion  by  the  fact  that  the  Egos  who  become  the 
failures  of  one  planetary  scheme  pass  into  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  planetary  scheme  next  in  order  of  develop- 
ment; so  the  simple  answer  to  the  question,  "  Where 
are  the  failures  of  the  Venus  scheme  ?  "  is  embodied 
in  the  one  word,  "  Here  !"  Certainly,  in  my  own 
experience,  no  one  word  ever  before  threw  such 
light  on  vast  regions  of  speculation.  One  saw  the 
whole  seven  (or  rather  ten)  planetary  schemes,  all 
forming  part  of  one  coherent  design;  one  saw  the 
reason  why  they  were  not  all  at  this  moment  in 
similar  stages  of  progress;  one  could  look  forward 
to  the  time  when,  for  example,  the  planet  Jupiter, 
now  an  incandescent  mass  of  mineral  matter,  will 
become  an  inhabited  home  of  future  races,  when 
those  which  inhabit  our  earth  will  no  longer  number 
among  them  any  beings  of  a  less  exalted  spiritual  rank 
than  those  we  now  think  of  as  the  Masters,  and  when 
the  future  Jupiter  evolution  will  afford  opportunities 
for  a  new  beginning  to  those  who  may  have  dropped 
out  of  the  evolutionary  course  designed  in  connection 
with  later  developments  of  this  worldy^N. 

Now  we  come  back  to  the  further  details  of  the 
process.  The  Venus  failures  are  here;  more  pre- 
cisely, what  does  that  mean  ?  In  truth,  although 
failures  from  the  present  standpoint  of  Venus  attain- 
ment, they  failed  at  a  period  in  the  evolution  of 
their  own  race  already  far  in  advance  of  that  reached 
by  the  great  bulk  of  our  own  people.  None  of  them 
could  be  content  with  such  incarnations  as  are  offered 
to  humanity  at  present,  even  by  the  most  civilized 
races  inhabiting  this  world,  or,  at  all  events,  no  such 
offers  can  be  provided  in  anything  resembling  adequate 
abundance.  The  problem  as  thus  stated  almost  hints 
at  its  own  solution.     I  have  already  said   that   the 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge     171 

planet  Mercury,  belonging  to  our. chain,  is  actually 
the  home  of  Egos  constituting  the  vanguard  of  our 
humanity.  For  the  moment  I  am  leaving  out  of 
account  those  who,  along  the  Path,  attain  sublime 
spiritual  conditions  which,  for  that  matter,  make  them 
free  of  all  the  planets  of  our  chain.  But  Mercury, 
inhabited  by  the  very  best,  so  to  speak,  of  the  human 
family,  became  a  region  in  which  the  Venus  failures 
could  freely  incarnate,  and  at  the  present  moment 
"  Mercury  "  is  the  more  precise  form  of  the  word 
"  here,"  which  impressed  me  so  much  when  I  first 
heard  it  used  in  this  connection. 

And  now  let  us  realize  more  in  detail  the  nature 
of  the  life  of  which  Mercury  is  the  home.  In  many 
ways  it  is  so  far  superior  to  the  conditions  we  are 
familiar  with  here,  that  only  by  degrees  can  we  form 
any  conception  of  it.  In  some  respects  we  are  helped 
to  do  this  by  a  book  which,  at  the  first  glance,  has 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  scientific  occultism — 
Bulwer  Lytton's  delightful  story,  The  Coming  Race. 
We  do  not  go  far  in  occult  study  before  coming  into 
touch  with  the  frequent  occurrence  of  literary 
inspiration.  Masters  taking  an  interest  in  that  work, 
and  finding  sensitive  authorship,  will  constantly 
inspire  poetry  and  fiction,  while  others,  indeed,  are 
inspiring  scientific  thought;  but  that  need  not  be 
dealt  with  at  this  moment.  The  Master  who  inspired 
Bulwer  Lytton  with  the  ideas  so  prettily  set  forth  in 
The  Coming  Race  did  not,  so  to  speak,  give  Himself 
the  trouble  to  invent  an  imaginary  world  of  dignity 
and  beauty;  He  simply  drew  on  His  personal  know- 
ledge of  the  conditions  actually  prevailing  on  the 
planet  Mercury — conditions  absolutely  familiar,  not 
merely  to  the  great  Masters,  but  to  many  of  those  of 
somewhat  lesser  rank,  who  are  already  able,  on  the 
Buddhic  plane,  to  roam  the  Solar  System  at  discretion. 
Perfect  harmony  prevails  in  the  delightful  Mercurial 


172     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

community;  the  Satanic  influence  which  has  filled 
this  world  with  strife  and  confusion,  whether  we 
contemplate  political,  industrial,  or  international 
relationships,  has  never  penetrated  the  peaceful  regions 
of  our  beautiful  sister  planet.  Intellectual  advance- 
ment has  far  outstripped  our  own,  and  for  many 
thinkers  amongst  us  speculating  on  the  possibilities 
of  future  sociology,  it  will  be  interesting  to  know 
that  in  reality  on  Mercury,  as  in  Bulwer  Lytton's 
story,  the  female  half  of  humanity  is  distinctly, 
though  in  no  inconvenient  degree,  superior  to  and  pre- 
dominant over  the  other  half.  It  is  difficult  to  make 
the  statement  in  any  form  of  words  which  does  not 
convey  at  the  first  glance  a  misunderstanding,  because 
the  very  words  male  and  female,  as  we  use  them  here, 
have  very  different  meanings  on  Mercury,  especially 
from  the  physiological  point  of  view  from  those  we 
attach  to  the  words  in  this  less  beautiful  world. 
And,  again,  when  we  talk  of  superiority  and  pre- 
dominance, we  can  hardly  keep  touch  with  ideas 
that  seem  from  our  experience  incompatible  with 
those  others — the  ideas  of  perfect  harmony  and  love. 
Really  all  these  apparently  conflicting  principles 
are  susceptible  of  combination  in  a  perfect  chord  like 
varying  notes  in  music,  and  the  whole  subject  tempts 
imagination.  But  for  the  moment  I  must  revert  to 
the  connection  between  Mercury  conditions  and  the 
claims  on  nature  of  the  Venus  failures. 

In  its  later  evolution,  possibty  in  obedience  to  a 
law  which  may  govern  other  worlds,  the  people  of 
Venus  became  very  much  more  advanced  students  of 
beauty — among  other  things — than  we  on  this  world 
can  claim  to  be  as  yet.  That  drift  of  development 
was  already  operative  with  the  whole  race  before  the 
critical  period.  So,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Venus  failures 
now  on  Mercury  are  enormously  in  advance  of  the 
earthly  population,  as  a  whole,  as  regards  the  appre- 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge      173 

ciation  of  beauty  on  a  level  only  represented  amongst 
us,  if  at  all,  by  the  greatest  artists  of  our  period. 
Parenthetically  I  may  here  just  mention  a  bit  of 
information  that  reached  me  a  long  time  ago,  and 
seemed  puzzling  at  the  moment,  concerning  the 
peculiar  Karma  which,  in  some  cases,  makes  it 
possible  for  Earthly  Egos  to  be  prematurely  trans- 
ferred to  incarnations  on  Mercury  (I  am  not  talking 
about  the  inner  round,  which  is  a  subject  apart). 
It  is  just  possible  for  people  appropriately  qualified 
by  their  Karma  to  be  thus  transferred.  I  must  not 
stop  to  go  into  the  numerous  details  of  the  subject,  but 
one  characteristic  required  by  people  unconsciously 
becoming  qualified  for  the  transfer,  is  the  artistic 
temperament.  They  must  have  some  qualification 
for  appropriately  enjoying  the  heredity  of  Mercurial 
parents. 

This  whole  department  of  the  subject  is  curiously 
fascinating.  Of  course,  the  word*"  beauty"  must  not 
be  used  in  any  narrow  sense,  but  in  one  which  includes 
the  natural  beauty  of  trees  and  flowers,  the  loveliness 
of  colour  in  a  landscape,  the  harmony  of  form  in  a 
structure,  as  well  as  that  beauty  in  the  feminine 
aspect  of  humanity  which  is  perhaps  the  variety  of 
beauty  we  all  think  of  first  when  we  make  use  of  the 
word. 

As  above  suggested,  not  quite  all  the  Venus  failures 
are  already  established  on  Mercury.  Some,  if  not 
actually  amongst  us  yet,  are  awaiting  earthly  incar- 
nation, due,  no  doubt,  to  their  exact  place  on  the 
scale  of  evolution,  and  are  meanwhile,  from  higher 
levels  either  on  the  Astral  or  Manasic  worlds,  in- 
fluencing artistic  thought,  inspiring  artistic  achieve- 
ment actually  in  progress  amongst  us  at  the  present 
time,  and  this  has  been  going  on  over  what  we  are 
in  the  habit  of  thinking  of  as  long  periods;  short, 
of  course,  as  measured  on  the  scale  of  natural  evolu- 


174     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

tion.  /yThe  whole  outburst  of  artistic  capacity  in 
Greece  during  that  period  the  other  day  which 
we  call  "  ancient  "  was  due  to  the  way  in  which 
Venus  failures  in  our  higher  worlds  discerned  in  that 
race  great  capacities  for  the  reception  of  their  in- 
fluence. Roughly  speaking,  all  Greek  art  in  sculpture 
may  be  regarded  as  having  been  a  gift  to  us  from  the 
Venus  immigrants,  whom,  from  the  Venus  point  of 
view,  we  must  still  speak  of  as  failures.     J^ 

There  is  something  eminently  suggestive  in  the 
fact  that  a  more  highly  evolved,  more  morally  and 
intellectually  perfect  a  race  than  our  own,  at  its 
present  stage,  should  also  be  identified  with  beauty 
for  that  matter,  not  merely  in  regard  to  capacity 
to  appreciate  it,  but  in  actual  manifestation.  Looking 
back  far  to  the  rear  of  our  own  place  in  evolution, 
we  always  find  early  forms,  more  or  less  to  our  senses, 
ugly  and  repulsive.  The  forms,  indeed,  of  the  de- 
graded remnants  of  the  human  family  on  Mars  are 
simply  hideous,  as  compared  with  the  best  examples 
among  us.  The  animal  life  there  is  uncouth  and 
repulsive  as  compared  with  the  animal  life  of  this 
world.  Doubtless  there  are  exceptions  that  will  leap 
into  consciousness  for  everyone  who  thinks  on  the 
subject,  but  very  broadly  the  law  of  nature  appears 
to  link  the  moral  improvement  of  conscious  beings 
with  corresponding  improvement  in  the  beauty  of  form. 
When  we  understand  the  intricacies  of  Karma  better 
than  we  do  at  present,  it  may  be  possible  to  find  out 
why  men  and  women  amongst  us  are  sometimes 
conspicuous  at  the  same  time  for  beauty  of  form 
and  atrociously  defective  character.  But  exceptions 
without,  according  to  the  stupid  proverb,  "  proving 
the  rule,"  are  at  all  events  compatible  with  its 
operation  on  a  large  scale. 

And  one  more  suggestion  in  connection  with  this 
line  of  thought  arises  from  definite  information  about 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge      175 

the  people  on  Mercury.  Without  going  into  inde- 
corous detail,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  birth  of 
children  is  absolutely  unattended  with  distress  or 
inconvenience  for  the  mother.  The  whole  business  of 
race  propagation  is  in  point  of  fact  so  unlike  our  own, 
so  infinitely  more  charming  and  attractive  to  the 
imagination,  that  incidentally  it  must  mean  differences 
in  the  physical  conformation  of  men  and  women  which 
may,  at  the  first  glance,  seem  to  conflict  with  our 
present  conceptions  of  perfect  female  beauty.  And 
yet  I  am  assured  by  one,  at  all  events,  in  a  position 
to  form  an  opinion,  that,  without  for  a  moment 
denying  the  beauty  of  a  perfect  female  form  of  our 
kind  at  present,  the  perfect  Mercury  woman,  though 
very  different,  is  the  more  beautiful  of  the  two.  The 
perception  of  beauty  is  a  faculty  that  grows  and 
changes  in  its  growth,  and  this  thought  reaches  in 
both  directions,  so  that  when  I  have  sometimes 
sought  to  ascertain  why  Nature's  early  experiments 
in  form  have  generally  been  uncouth  and  ugly,  I 
have  been  told  they  were  neither  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  lowly  developed  consciousness  they  were 
designed  to  express. 

3. — ^The  Astral  World 

Any  reference  to  the  real  conditions  of  astral  life 
must  bring  us  first  of  all  into  touch  with  a  situation 
— as  lamentable  as  it  is  ludicrous — that  has  established 
an  almost  impassable  chasm  between  the  vast  body 
of  super-physical  inquirers  engaged  with  the  methods 
of  spiritualism,  and  those  who  have  appreciated  what 
with  all  respect  to  the  other  I  cannot  but  describe 
as  the  infinitely  more  important  line  of  study  identi- 
fied with  the  Theosophical  movement.  One  might 
laboriously  trace  the  way  mistakes  were  made  in  the 
beginning,  but  as  regards  authentic  teaching  from  the 
Masters,  on  the  strength  of  which  the  Theosophical 


176     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

movement  was  launched,  the  subject  of  astral  life 
immediately  following  the  death  of  the  physical  body 
was  simply  neglected.  Somehow  we  were  drifted  in 
the  beginning  into  concerning  ourselves  with  the 
gigantic  principles  governing  human  evolution  on 
a  large  scale,  and  disregarded  opportunities  of  under- 
standing our  immediate  future  better  than  before, 
in  a  way  which  painfully  reminds  one  of  the  old 
story  about  the  star-gazer  who  fell  into  the  ditch. 
The  pity  of  it,  looking  back,  is  intense.  The  Theo- 
sophical  movement  ought  to  have  been  recruited 
wholesale  from  the  ranks  of  the  spiritualists.  As 
things  have  turned  out,  it  is  only  a  few  who  can  be 
drawn  across  the  gulf  dividing  most  of  them  from 
loftier  work  j/ 

But  now,  forgetting  all  this,  let  us  turn  to  the 
accurate  information  which  in  later  years  some  of  us 
have  been  able  to  obtain  from  lofty  sources  of  informa- 
tion concerning  that  astral  world  which  thirty  or 
forty  years  ago  the  spiritualists  understood  better 
than  the  first  writers  on  Theosophy,  but  which  now 
we  are  able  to  examine  and  interpret  to  an  extent 
which  puts  the  knowledge  acquired  by  the  ordinary 
methods  of  spiritualism  in  the  background  alto- 
gether. 

To  survey  the  astral  world  in  its  entirety  and  to 
comprehend  its  manifold  varieties  of  condition,  the 
survey  must  be  on  an  altogether  higher  level  of 
consciousness  than  that  of  the  normal  inhabitants. 
This  idea,  which  is  obvious  as  soon  as  stated,  is  ignored^ 
altogether  by  spiritualists  of  the  simpler  type,  who 
imagine  that  because  their  friend  has  passed  to  a 
new  state  of  existence  he  must  know,  not  merely  all 
about  it,  but  all  that  relates  to  human  destinies 
beyond  his  own  condition.  And  many  spiritualists 
will  even  accept  negative  testimony;  a  spirit  who 
quite  truly  says  that  he  cannot  perceive  any  rein- 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge     177 

carnations  in  progress  is  held  by,  his  friend  on  this 
plane  to  have  proved  that  no  reincarnations  take 
place;  but  in  thus  indicating  the  necessary  imper- 
fection of  the  spiritualistic  method  as  a  means  of 
acquiring  knowledge,  let  me,  before  passing  on  to 
deal  with  the  knowledge  acquired  in  other  ways, 
bear  testimony  to-  the  magnificent  work  that  has 
been  done  in  the  world  by  spiritualism  in  its  relations 
with  religious  thinking.  The  growth  of  materialistic 
belief  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  was  so  powerful 
that,  if  entirely  unchecked,  it  would  probably  have 
extinguished  religious  thinking  altogether.  /Spiritual- 
ism, by  proving  that  there  was  another  life  after  this, 
and  one  with  which  we  could  get  into  touch,  broke 
up  the  domination  of  the  materialistic  school  in  a 
way  which  no  theological  influence  could  possibly 
have  accomplished./ 

Coming  to  detail,  we  find  the  number  seven  playing 
an  important  part  in  the  astral  economy,  as  in  many 
other  ways  with  which  we  are  familiar.  It  is  a  great 
mistake  to  imagine  that  seven  as  a  key  number  is  one 
of  any  deep  significance  in  the  universe  at  large. 
It  has  a  deep  significance  as  regards  our  world,  of 
which,  after  all,  the  astral  plane  is  merely  a  part — a 
part  as  definitely  objective  as  so  much  granite  rock 
to  appropriate  senses  of  perception.  To  those  the 
granite  rock  would  hardly  make  an  appeal.  We  must 
think  of  the  astral  world  to  begin  with  as  consisting 
of  a  vast  series  of  concentric  shells  entirely  surround- 
ing this  Earth,  the  aggregate  diameter  of  which  is 
enormously  greater  than  that  of  the  physical  globe. 
It  is  difficult  to  get  measurements  in  miles  when 
dealing  with  the  region  of  nature  in  which,  for  some 
purposes,  distance  is  almost  negligible,  and  yet,  in 
truth,  there  are  definite  magnitudes  in  connection  with 
the  various  subdivisions  of  the  astral  world  which 
may  actually  be  expressed  in  terms  of  our  measure- 

12 


1/8     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

ment.  Enough  for  the  moment  to  realize  that  the 
height  above  the  earth's  surface  to  which  the  loftier 
subdivisions  of  the  astral  world  extend  is  to  be 
thought  of  at  least  in  tens  of  thousands  of  miles. 
Then,  if  we  begin  to  attempt  a  survey  of  the  varied 
subdivisions,  we  have  to  recognize  that  the  astral 
plane  interpenetrates  the  physical  body  of  the  earth 
to  a  fairly  considerable  extent,  and  that  the  regions 
thus  submerged  below  the  earth's  surface  are  horrible 
in  their  characteristics,  though  definitely  fulfilling  a 
purpose  in  the  Divine  plan  of  human  evolution. 
There  are  two  distinct  concentric  shells  of  astral 
matter  sunk  within  the  body  of  the  earth.  The 
lowest  of  all  is  one  with  which  humanity  has  scarcely 
anything  to  do,  or  ought  not  to  have  anything  to  do, 
though  in  the  ghastly  unprecedented  conditions  of 
Satanic  disturbance  that  we  are  going  through,  in- 
fluences from  that  lowest  astral  region  have  been 
brought  to  the  surface  for  our  profound  discomfort. 
Sub-plane  No.  i  ought  to  be  concerned  merely 
with  the  gradual  disintegration  of  elemental  forms 
that  played  a  part  appropriately  enough  in  the  very 
earliest  history  of  this  planet,  .'but  the  need  for 
which  has  long  since  expired.  .'Ilevel  No.  2,  immedi- 
ately below  the  earth's  surface,  is  the  real  Hell  of 
actual  Nature,  a  condition  of  suffering  for  those  who 
drift  thither  that  c^  hardly  be  exaggerated  in 
imagination.  That^  such  suffefhig,  however,  is 
destined  to  be  ctirative  in  its  characb«f  is  a  funda- 
mental idea  to' which,  in  investigating  thab-region,  we 
should  always  cling.  It  deals  only  with  tftte.  most 
hideously  degraded  and  atrociously  criminal  repre- 
sentatives of  our  humanity. 

Without  for  the  moment  attempting  to  go  into 
further  detail  in  connection  with  this  ghastly  depart- 
ment of  the  subject,  we  still  have  to  realize  that  when 
we  consider  Sub-plane  No.  3,  that  which  is  the  first 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge      179 

above  the  surface  of  the  physical,  world,  we  are  still 
in  touch  with  a  purgatorial  realm,  the  curative  in- 
fluences of  which  are  appropriate  to  evil-doers  whose 
iniquity  falls  short  of  that  which  leads  to  the  lower 
hell.  Experiences  on  No.  3  may,  nevertheless,  be  of 
a  serious  character.  The  misapprehension  people 
are  so  liable  to  fall  into  in  connection  with  this 
purgatorial  condition  arises  from  a  very  common 
tendency  to  take  too  severe  a  view  of  our  own  short- 
comings. People  taught  to  consider  themselves 
miserable  sinners,  merely  because  they  are  leading  a 
commonplace  physical  life,  are  probably,  in  most 
cases,  so  entirely  innocent  in  reality  that  when  free  of 
the  body  they  will  slip  unconsciously  through  the 
purgatorial  region  and  wake  up  happily  on  some 
level  of  the  fourth  sub-plane.  Again,  the  study  of  the 
purgatorial  region  is  so  intricate  that  imagination 
is  misled  if  we  dwell  upon  it  elaborately  before 
realizing  the  still  greater  and  altogether  beautiful  in- 
tricacies of  the  higher  sub-planes  which,  from  the 
lower  levels  of  the  fourth  right  up  to  the  highest,  are 
hardly  tinged  with  any  emotion  in  the  nature  of 
suffering.  The  intricacy  and  complication  of  the 
vast  fourth  sub-plane  will  be  readily  comprehended, 
when  we  think  of  it  as  the  natural  future  home  of 
entities  as  varied  as  the  population  of  the  earth,  or, 
leaving  out  of  account  the  humbler  multitudes  of 
uncivilized  communities,  the  difference  between 
individual  Egos  within  the  limits  of  a  civilized 
country  like  our  own  are  so  enormous  and  elaborate 
that  natural  law  has,  indeed,  a  delicate  task  in  pro- 
viding all  with  perfectly  suitable  environment  in  the 
restful  period  between  two  physical  lives.  Close 
observation,  to  begin  with,  divides  the  fourth  sub- 
plane  into  another  septenary  series,  but  seven  is  left 
far  in  the  rear  as  a  number  indicative  of  the  need  such 
life  develops  for  variety.     On  quite  the  lower  levels 


i8o     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

of  the  fourth  we  find  life  carried  on  with  such  close 
resemblance  to  the  conditions  of  physical  life  on  this 
globe,  that  when  we  hear  of  houses,  theatres,  and 
amusements  there,  landscapes  and  lakes,  and  actual 
furniture  in  the  houses,  some  of  us  start  up  indig- 
nantly with  the  idea  of  associating  such  phenomena 
with   a   spiritual   condition.  yrThe  spiritual   life  and 
fleshly  life  are,   however,   closely  intermingled,   not 
merely  in  the  living  human  body,  but  in  the  super- 
physical    worlds,    appropriate    to    human    existence. 
There  are  people  on  the  astral  world  free  of  all  painful 
embarrassments,  but  who  have  not  climbed  beyond 
the  conception  of  happiness  associated  with  physical 
enjoyment.     To  find  these  still  available  to  the  astral 
life  their  aspirations  in  that  direction  must,  indeed, 
be  a  good  deal  refined,  and  we  have  always  to  re- 
member that  the  affections  which  play  so  important 
a  part  in  our  life  even  here  are  still  more  supreme  in 
their  importance  on  all  the  happy  levels  of  the  astral 
world.     Karma  entangles  incarnate  life  with  all  kinds 
of  associations,  and  though  it  may  permit  us  to  enjoy 
some  really  congenial  companionship  it  often  forces 
upon  us  a  good  deal  of  the  other  kind.     In  the  astral 
life,  even  on  the  fourth  level,  not  to  speak  for  the 
moment  of  loftier  conditions,  people  are  never  thrown 
into  companionship  which  is  otherwise  than  congenial. 
This  is  one  of  the  foremost  assurances  we  gather  from 
people  speaking  to  us  from  the  next  world.     Some- 
times they  are  still  with  friends  they  have  known 
and  cared  for  on  the  Earth-life,  but  in  any  case  with 
people  towards  whom  they  feel  entirely  sympathetic. 
In  attempting  this  sort  of  survey,  the  magnitude  of 
the  task  is  intimidating.     We  have  accumulated  such 
a  vast  body  of  detailed  information  concerning  astral 
life,  that,  to  use  a  favourite  simile,  one   cannot    see 
the  forest  for  the  trees ;   but  keeping  for  the  moment 
to  generalities,  let  me  attempt  to  indicate  the  leading 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge      i8i 

characteristics  of  the  vast  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh 
sub-planes  of  the  astral  world.  These  must  not  be 
thought  as  definitely  one  superior  to  the  other. 
Through  the  various  minor  subdivisions  of  the  vast 
fourth  sub-plane  people  do  get  actually  promoted, 
as  it  were,  from  one  to  the  other  as  their  qualifications 
for  enjoying  the  higher  regions  become  developed; 
but  once  attaining  the  highest  levels  of  the  fourth,  the 
other  regions  are  reached,  not  so  much  by  virtue  of 
anything  that  can  be  thought  of  as  promotion,  but 
in  accordance  with  what  may  much  more  accurately 
be  described  as  individual  taste.  Roughly  speaking, 
the  fifth  sub-plane  is  the  region  in  which  intellectual 
activity  can  most  easily  expand;  the  sixth  is  more 
devotional  in  its  character,  while  the  seventh  is  a 
region  in  which  those  Egos  that  have  plaj'^ed  an 
important  public  part  in  the  Earth-life  find  themselves 
in  congenial  companionship,  and  within  reach  of 
opportunities  for  developing  their  own  qualifications 
as  leaders  of  men  in  preparation  for  future  incarna- 
tions along  that  line  of  activity. 

The  idea  just  hinted  at  interprets  the  enormously 
significant  fact  that  in  various  departments  of  human 
distinction  great  Egos  remain  by  preference  on  the 
higher  levels  of  the  astral  world  instead  of  passing  on, 
as  they  conceivably  might,  to  the  still  more  elevated 
conditions  of  the  Manasic  plane.  Let  us  consider, 
for  example,  the  choice  to  be  made  by  the  great  men  of 
science  as  they  pass  on  from  physical  life.  Assume, 
first,  that  they  have  no  bad  Karma  to  keep  them 
for  a  while  on  No.  3.  They  wake  up  on  the  highest 
levels  of  the  fourth  in  company  with  congenial  friends 
in  their  own  line  of  development.  They  quickly 
learn  that  on  the  fifth,  to  which  they  can  pass  on  at 
will,  splendid  opportunities  for  carrying  on  the 
scientific  researches  to  which  they  may  have  been 
devoted  lie  within  their  reach.     They  see   that   to 


i82     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

take  a  forward  leap  to  the  Manasic  plane  would  break 
the  continuity  of  their  work — land  them  on  levels  of 
perception  out  of  tune  with  the  science  they  have  been 
used  to.  It  would  carry  them  on  to  another  line  of 
development  altogether.  By  keeping  on  the  astral 
they  acquire  new  knowledge  in  tune  with  that  of 
their  lives  just  spent.  That  will  invest  their  Egos 
with  expanded  capacity.  In  the  next  life  on  Earth 
they  will  be  able  to  carry  on  their  work  from  the 
point  at  which  they  left  it  off  last,  and  they  see  the 
plain  path  of  duty  before  them. 

The  same  principle  certainly  applies  to  the  case  of 
the  great  poets  of  the  past  who  are  gathered  together 
on  the  sixth  sub-plane,  though  in  other  departments 
of  artistic  greatness  compHcations  may  arise.  But 
how  about  people  who  are  not  especially  distinguished? 
Have  they  any  choice  as  regards  astral  and  Manasic 
destinies  ?  Serious  confusion  of  thought  arose  among 
Theosophical  students  in  the  beginning  by  reason  of 
the  way  in  which  we  happened  to  pick  up  some  quite 
correct  information  about  the  Devachanic  state. 
That  is  a  condition  of  blissful  illusion  on  the  lower 
levels  of  the  Manasic  plane,  appropriate  to  people 
innocent  of  wrong-doing,  of  affectionate  nature,  but 
not  highly  qualified  intellectually,  or  in  other  ways, 
for  active  work  or  progress  on  the  astral  plane.  The 
mistake  we  made  at  first  was  to  suppose  that  the 
Devachanic  state  was  a  goal  to  be  aimed  at  by  all. 
As  we  have  come  to  understand  the  life  and  oppor- 
tunities of  the  higher  astral  world,  the  mistake  assumes 
a  ludicrous  aspect. 

Obviously  the  study  of  astral  details  is  an  endless 
task,  and  can  only  be  carried  out  thoroughly  when 
we  are  in  personal  touch  with  them;  but  one  idea 
not  yet  dealt  with  in  this  hurried  survey  can  be  under- 
stood now,  and  claims  attention.  Besides  that  which 
may  be  broadly  thought  of  as  the  stratification  con- 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge     183 

centrically  of  the  astral  world,  it  has  vast  divisions 
that  may  be  thought  of  as  corresponding  to  the 
geographical  divisions  of  this  Earth.  Over  the  great 
geographical  areas  of  the  Earth  He  the  astral  regions 
appropriate  to  the  people  of  the  region  below.  Thus 
the  astral  regions  over  India  and  other  parts  of  Asia 
are  quite  different  in  many  ways  from  the  astral 
regions  over  European  countries.  This  does  not 
interfere  with  the  fact  that  movement  from  one  part 
of  the  astral  world  to  any  other  with  the  velocity 
of  light  is  open  to  any  one  belonging  to  that  world 
who  knows,  to  start  with,  that  he  has  the  power  of 
getting  about  in  that  way.  In  truth,  that  know- 
ledge only  appertains  to  people  who  have  been 
making  some  progress  during  physical  life  in  occult 
study.  The  vast  majority  of  perfectly  commonplace 
people  on  the  comfortable  lower  levels  of  the  fourth 
sub-plane  never  want  to  investigate,  for  example, 
the  corresponding  conditions  of  the  Indian  astral  world. 
In  a  still  more  emphatic  extent  the  Indian  on  the 
astral  never  thinks  of  its  Western  aspect,  unless  he 
belongs  to  the  few  who  have  travelled  West  in  life. 

Does  the  geographical  idea  adapted  to  astral 
conditions  embarrass  thought  in  any  way  ?  Are  there 
blank  spaces  corresponding  to  the  great  oceans  ? 
Not  at  all.  The  ocean  spaces  allow  of  convenient 
adjustments.  Our  British  astral  stretches  half  across 
the  Atlantic,  and  no  doubt  impinges  (though  I  do 
not  remember  to  have  heard  of  this  as  a  fact)  on  the 
American  astral,  necessarily  a  very  wide  domain. 

For  those  who  realize  the  importance,  as  well  as  the 
possibilities  of  getting  definite  and  vivid  mental 
conceptions  of  super-physical  Nature,  this  geography 
of  the  astral  world  is  extremely  significant.  It  all 
helps  to  make  the  whole  complicated  realm  harmonious 
and  restful  for  the  great  multitudes.  For  all  of  us 
there  may  in  future  be  a  time  when  nationality  becomes 


184     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

merged  in  some  higher  attribute  of  exalted  conscious- 
ness, but  all  progress  is  gradual.  That  is  the  fore- 
most principle  to  be  discerned  in  studying  astral  life. 
Spiritualists  all  recognize  it,  as  well  as  those  who 
derive  super-physical  knowledge  in  other  ways.  For 
a  time  people  passing  on  are  on  the  other  side  just 
what  they  were  here.  Especially,  therefore,  they 
are  of  the  same  nationality  as  here.  If  all  the  nations 
of  the  world  were  jumbled  up  together  on  the  astral, 
that  world  would  not,  as  it  does,  show  us  the  laws 
and  designs  of  Nature  in  perfect  harmony  and  accord 
— in  that  symmetrical  aspect  which  appeals  so  power- 
fully to  the  intelligent  observer.  That  is  the  pecuhar 
charm  of  the  later  Theosophical  teaching.  It  enables 
all  who  truly  understand  the  Theosophical  movement 
to  feel  that  they  are  engaged  not  merely  in  stimulating 
spiritual  aspiration,  but  in  the  magnificent  task  of 
creating  a  true  spiritual  science. 

4. — The  Infinite  Future 

As  I  have  endeavoured  to  show,  in  dealing  with 
the  phenomena  of  the  astral  plane,  it  is  possible  to 
obtain  clearly  defined  knowledge  in  reference  to  some 
aspects  of  the  super-physical  future  awaiting  mankind. 
The  immediately  "  next  world  "  may  become  so 
vividly  foreseen  during  our  stay  in  this  one,  that  its 
importance  to  us  may  be  appreciated  in  a  way  rarely 
attained  under  the  influence  of  simple  religious 
thought.  That  alone  may  give  rise  to  a  beautifully 
reverential  emotion  in  reference  to  the  future  life,  but 
not  to  the  same  kind  of  absolute  confidence  engen- 
dered by  specific  knowledge.  Take  an  imaginar}^ 
case — ^in  illustration  of  what  I  mean — from  the 
possible  conditions  of  ordinary  life.  Suppose  a  young 
man  entering  some  business  or  profession  is  told  by 
some  friend,  "  You  might  do  better  if  you  went  to 
America."    The  young  man  does  not  deny  this,  but 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge     185 

still  thinks  he  can  do  fairly  well  at  home,  so  he  does 
not  dwell  in  thought  on  the  friend's  idea.  Suppose 
he  is  offered  a  definite  engagement  or  opportunity  in 
America,  and  signs  a  contract  to  go  there  next  year^ 
Will  he  not  become  at  once  deeply  interested  in  the 
conditions  of  residence  in  America  ?  He  would  read 
books  about  the  country,  talk  eagerly  with  travellers 
who  had  been  there ;  fit  himself  out  with  clothes  and 
other  things  appropriate  to  the  climate  he  would  know 
to  be  that  of  his  future  home.  He  would  not  neglect 
his  current  work,  because  he  would  know  that  his 
efficiency  therein  would  have  much  to  do  with  his 
welfare  in  the  new  life;  but  he  would  look  on  the 
current  work  with  an  eye  to  the  future,  attending  to 
it  all  the  more  zealously  so  far  as  it  trained  his 
capacity,  but  with  a  sense  of  detachment  that  would 
make  him  relatively  indifferent  to  its  immediate 
results. 

Will  the  little  parable  fit  the  case  of  those  who 
are — and  who  are  not  ? — destined  to  migrate  at  no 
very  distant  future  to  the  astral  plane  ?  Most  people, 
it  is  true,  have  made  no  attempt  to  get  information 
in  advance  in  reference  to  the  conditions  prevailing 
there,  because  they  have  not  believed  any  information 
on  the  subject  to  be  trustworthy.  The  misty  sug- 
gestions of  religious  doctrine  left  all  details  obscure. 
Spiritualism  incurred  discredit  in  various  ways,  and 
the  importance  of  its  main  revelation  was  imperfectly 
understood  b}^  the  critical  world  at  large;  but  now 
we  have  to  deal  with  a  fuller  revelation  conveyed  to  us 
by  Theosophy.  The  history  of  the  movement  since 
1880  embodies  its  credentials.  The  vision  of  the 
future  is  clearing  up  in  many  directions.  That 
department  which  includes  life  on  the  astral  plane  is 
illuminated  by  a  great  wealth  of  knowledge.  For  all 
who  appreciate  this,  that  knowledge  sheds  light  on 
the  path  they  are    actually  treading    through    the 


1 86     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

current  physical  life,  and  with  an  expanded  power 
of  gazing  into  futurity,  we  are  already  beginning  to 
concern  ourselves  with  problems  of  infinite  futurity 
extending  far  beyond  the  range  of  astral  experience 
and  physical  reincarnation.    ^ 

The  feeling  with  which  We  do  this  is  very  unHke 
that  which  governs  the  investigation  of  astral  con- 
ditions. The  ultimate  conditions  of  our  humanity 
when  the  history  of  this  world  is  complete  are  inter- 
esting only  to  thinkers  who  can  deal  in  imagination 
with  states  of  consciousness,  so  far  transcending  that 
of  any  one  personal  life,  that  they  are  content  to 
lose  touch  with  the  limitations  which  actually  engender 
the  feeling  of  individuality.  And  if,  as  we  may,  we 
look  beyond  the  limitations  of  the  one  world  we 
seem  to  lose  sight  of  ourselves.  Thus  the  contempla- 
tion of  infinite  futurity  is  not  at  the  first  glance  at  all 
events  compatible  with  an  interest  in  ourselves.  But 
none  the  less  does  it  dignify  all  thinking,  even  of  the 
kind  which  does  relate  to  ourselves.  We  know  that 
the  continuity  of  our  individual  consciousness  will 
never  be  broken.  Plant  us  suddenly  in  the  state 
we  shall  be  in — say,  ten  million  years  hence — and  that 
would  be  so  unlike  our  present  state  that  we  should 
not  recognize  ourselves.  The  leap  would  be  equivalent 
to  annihilation  of  our  present  selves.  The  gradual 
character  of  the  change  will  preclude  this  unhappy 
result.  So  we  really  may  discuss  the  problems  of 
infinitude  with  composure  without  making  the  great 
mistake  of  projecting  our  personal  limitations  into 
infinity. 

Campbell's  poem — beautiful  in  some  respects — 
"  The  Last  Man  "  is  a  ludicrous  illustration  of  this 
mistake.  "  I  saw  the  last  of  human  mould.  That 
shall  Creation's  death  behold  as  Adam  saw  her  prime." 
No  doubt  "  The  Sun  himself  must  die,"  but  that  will 
not  happen  till  the  Life  of  the  Sun,  including  ours, 


Expanded  Theosophical  Knowledge      187 

is  transferred  to  another  vehicle,  and  we  know 
enough  now  to  foresee  the  change.  We  know  that 
our  Sun  is  one  of  many  constituting  a  stupendous 
Cosmos,  of  which  the  great  star  Sirius  is  the  centre. 
We  can  apply  the  rule,  "  as  below;  so  above,"  even 
to  this  state  of  things.  The  planets  of  our  solar 
system  breed  their  humanities,  which  attain  per- 
fection, and  pass  into  Divine  Hierarchies.  The 
aggregate  hierarchies  of  each  solar  system  in  the 
Sirian  Cosmos  must  have  corresponding  destinies 
on  a  loftier  level.  With  us,  planet  is  linked  with 
planet  in  accordance  with  a  comprehensive  scheme 
providing  for  the  ultimate  perfection  of  all.  Beyond 
doubt  the  solar  systems  of  the  Cosmos  must  be 
linked  together  in  a  somewhat  similar  way.  And 
already  we  have  learned  something  about  their 
destinies,  which  shows  these  analagous  to  the  idea 
underlying  the  succession  of  manvantaras  in  each 
planetary  chain  of  our  system.  A  sun  which  is  in 
manifestation  on  the  physical  plane  has  in  a  former 
manvantara  been  a  sun  on  a  super-physical  plane, 
and  will  again,  in  some  mysterious  upward  arc  of 
evolution,  be  on  a  super-physical  plane.  I  avoid 
saying  on  the  Astral  or  Manasic  plane  because  these 
terms  in  reference  to  the  Cosmos  must  mean  something 
very  unlike  their  meaning  in  this  one  solar  sj'^stem. 

All  through  these  mighty  changes  the  continuity  of 
each  individual  consciousness  concerned  with  them 
will  be  maintained.  However  overwhelming  to  the 
mind  may  be  the  character  of  these  colossal  processes 
of  change,  we  can  already  contemplate  them  with  open- 
eyed  admiration,  as  on  a  lesser  scale  we  may  con- 
template the  splendour  of  a  mountain  range  bathed  in 
the  colours  of  the  sunset.  Even  natural  beauty  and 
grandeur  of  that  order  is  uplifting  in  its  effect  on  the 
emotions.  So  with  the  mental  influence  of  attempts 
to   gaze   in   thought   at   the   infinitudes   of  spiritual 


1 88     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

development.  By  comparison  our  Humanity  seems 
so  small — if,  indeed,  we  can  think  of  it  at  all  as  the 
stupendous  magnificence  of  the  Cosmos  is  partly 
revealed  to  us.  In  one  sense,  if  we  can  forget  it, 
so  much  the  better.  Truth  lies  in  some  paradoxical 
phrases  about  sublime  results  attained  by  the  loss  of 
what  seems  everything  for  the  moment,  but  paradoxes 
may  be  misleading  as  well  as  suggestive.  If  only  by 
our  capacity  to  admire,  we  are  identified  with  the 
glories  of  infinitude — the  realm  to  which,  attached 
to  it  by  ties  that  can  never  be  broken,  we  eternally 
belong. 


THE  PYRAMIDS  AND  STONEHENGE 

Independently  of  knowledge  concerning  the  spiritual 
growth  of  humanity,  with  which  theosophy  is  specially 
concerned,  a  great  deal  of  information  that  could  not 
be  obtained  in  any  other  way  may  sometimes  be 
acquired  by  theosophical  students  in  reference  to  the 
plain    external    history    of    the    world    around    us. 
Literary  research  in  such  matters  very  soon  reaches 
the  limit  of  its  tether.     In  dealing  with  the  remote 
past  it  is  paralyzed  for  want  of  written  records,  and 
at  the  best  can  only  supplement  these  by  interpreting 
a  few  inscriptions  on  stone  j^  With  their  aid  we  are 
enabled  to  reach  back  in  the  direction  of  what  Mr. 
Samuel   Laing  calls  "  Human  Origins  "  some  5,000 
years  before  the  Christian  eray/  But  evidences  which 
are  not  less  certain  than  tho^e  of  Egyptian  hierogly- 
phics, show  us  that  Man  existed  on  the  earth  at  past 
periods  which  geology  fails  to  estimate  with  exacti- 
tude, but  which  certainly  extend   back  millions  of 
years.     In  this  way  we  are  confronted  with  a  problem 
which,  in  its  broadest  aspects,  only  admits  of  two 
alternative  hypotheses.     Either  for  those  millions  of 
years  mankind  existed  on  the  earth  in  a  savage  state, 
never  rising  above  the  use  of  the  barbarous  stone 
implements  we  find  associated  with  his  fossil  remains, 
or  he  attained  to  early  civilizations  at  remote  periods, 
the   regular    historical    traces   of   which    have   been 
lost. 

Comparing  these  two  views,  mere  reasoning  on 
the  basis  of  evidence  that  everyone  is  equally  qualified 
to  appreciate  will  go  far  to  support  a  belief  in  pre- 

189 


190     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

historic  civilizations.  In  Egypt,  the  testimony  of  the 
monuments  and  of  papyrus  records,  already  translated, 
carries  us  back  to  a  period  about  5,000  years  B.C. 
But  at  that  time  we  find  ourselves  just  as  much  in 
presence  of  Egyptian  civilization  as  at  that  relatively 
modern  epoch  of  Egyptian  grandeur,  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty.  According  to  the  admirable  German 
Egyptologist,  Brugsch  Bey,  Menes,  the  first  king 
of  the  first  dynasty  mentioned  by  Manetho,  altered 
the  course  of  the  Nile  by  constructing  an  enormous 
dyke,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  foundation  of  Memphis. 
He  was  a  law-giver,  moreover,  and  is  said  to  have 
greatly  augmented  the  pomp  and  extravagance  of 
the  monarchy,  thus  showing  himself  at  the  same  time 
not  merely  a  civilized  ruler,  but  one  who  had  already 
contracted  some  of  the  vices  of  civilization,  a  sure 
indication  that  he  belonged  to  a  declining  rather  than 
to  a  rising  era  of  his  country's  progress.  But,  in  truth, 
people  have  got  into  the  way  of  thinking  of  him 
as  if  he  were  a  primeval  personage,  merely  because 
he  begins  Manetho 's  list  of  the  kings  in  so  far  as  that 
list  has  been  preserved  for  us  by  the  accident  of  its 
quotation  by  some  classical  writers.  The  original 
work  of  Manetho  vanished  probably  in  the  smoke  of  the 
Alexandrian  library.  It  is  known  through  other 
writers  that  Manetho  spoke  of  Egyptian  epochs  long 
previous  to  that  of  the  thirty  dynasties ;  and  even  if 
he  had  not  done  so,  the  situation  faintly  portrayed 
as  prevailing  in  the  time  of  Menes  is  enough  to  show 
that  it  must  have  been  the  growth  of  a  social  progress 
extending  into  the  past  for  almost  immeasurable  ages 
previously.  yTifteen  and  not  five  millenniums  b.c. 
must  be  ta^ken  into  account — according  to  some  of 
the  modern  Egyptologists  now  engaged  in  translating 
the  papyri — if  we  wish  to  frame  a  picture  in  our  own 
minds  of  the  rise  of  Egyptian  civilization.  / 

Turning  now  to  another  modern  investigation,  we 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge  191 

have  to  recognize  that  by  degrees  a.  mass  of  testimony 
has  accumulated  on  our  hands  in  support  of  the 
classical  legend  concerning^/ the  lost  continent  of 
Atlantis./  The  Egyptain  priests  whom  he  visited  gave 
a  great  aeal  of  information  on  that  subject  to  Plato's 
ancestor  Solon.  For  a  long  time  modern  scholarship 
was  inclined  to  treat  the  story  as  a  fable,  one  hardly 
knows  why,  because  the  recognized  course  of  change 
on  the  earth's  crust  makes  it  certain  that  most  of  what 
is  now  drj''  land  was  once  ocean  bed,  and  vice  versa. 
There  is  an  a  priori  probability,  therefore,  that  some 
such  continent  as  the  "  fabled  "  Atlantis  must  once 
have  existed.  /  And  now  there  are  abundant  evidences, 
derived  from  the  surve5^s  of  the  Atlantic  bed  within 
the  last  few  years,  to  show  that  the  site  assigned 
to  Atlantis  was  probably  that  of  great  land  masses 
during  some  former  configuration  of  the  earth's  surface. 
Furthermore,  comparative  archaeology  brings  out 
identities  between  the  pre-historic  symbolism  and 
remains  of  Mexico  and  Central  America  on  the  one 
hand,  and  those  of  Egypt  and  Syria  on  the  other. 
These  point  to  a  common  origin  which  Atlantis  would 
exactl}^  suppl5^  A  persevering  explorer  of  Mexico 
and  Yucatan,  Dr.  Le  Plongeon,  has,  to  quote  a  recent 
and  very  striking  scrap  of  evidence,  succeeded  in 
deciphering  the  character  in  which  ancient  Mexican 
inscriptions  are  wfitten,  and  has  even  translated  a  verj' 
old  manuscript  saved  from  the  vandalism  of  Cortez 
and  his  attendant  monks.  This  turns  out  to  include 
a  straightforward  record  of  the  final  catastrophe 
which  swallowed  up  the  last  remnant  of  Atlantis  ten 
or  twelve  thousand  years  ago. 

The  question  of  Atlantis  is  immensely  important, 
and  I  am,  for  the  present,  merely  referring  to  the 
chain  of  reasoning  by  which  its  actual  existence  in 
former  days  is  supported.  A  thorough  examination 
of  the  merely  exoteric  evidence  on  the  subject  would 


192     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

be  a  large  undertaking  in  itself,  and  I  have  another 
task  before  me  for  the  moment.  But  all  theosophical 
students,  and  even  cursory  readers  of  theosophical 
books,  will  be  aware  that  the  teaching  concerning  the 
origins  of  the  human  race  that  have  been  given  to  the 
world  in  connection  with  the  inauguration  of  the 
theosophical  movement,  gear  in  with  that  belief  in  the 
former  existence  of  the  Atlantean  continent  which, 
as  I  have  shown,  is  making  its  way  even  in  the  outside 
world,  which  has  nothing  to  do  with  theosophy. 
Humanity,  according  to  all  theosophical  authorities, 
is  evolved  through  a  series  of  great  root  races,  of 
which  the  Atlantean  race  was  the  predecessor  of  our 
own.  I  do  not  put  forward  the  statement  as  in 
itself  conclusive,  because  the  whole  character  of 
theosophic  teaching — as  far  as  its  really  qualified 
exponents  are  concerned — is  opposed  to  the  principle 
of  ex  cathedra  assertion.  The  regular  method  of 
instruction  adopted  by  the  Masters  of  occult  science 
is  to  show  the  student  how  his  own  interior  dormant 
faculties  may  be  awakened  and  brought  to  bear  on 
the  discovery  of  truth,  whether  it  has  to  do  with  the 
planes  of  Nature  and  consciousness  superior  to  our 
own,  or  with  periods  of  the  world's  history  long 
anterior  to  our  own.  Until  the  pupil  is  sufficiently 
advanced  to  have  the  power  of  applying  his  own 
direct  perceptions  to  the  questions  he  may  wish  to 
investigate,  he  is  almost  discouraged  from  taking  the 
statements  of  others,  more  advanced  than  himself,  on 
trust.  But,  at  the  same  time,  we  must  steer  a  middle 
course  between  the  attitude  of  mental  servility  and  the 
attitude  of  narrow-minded  incredulity.  For  the 
reasonable  theosophic  student  who  has  found  sub- 
stantial ground  for  relying  on  the  knowledge  and 
bona  fides  of  the  occult  Masters,  from  whom  our 
current  theosophic  teaching  has  been  received,  the 
statements  they  make  in  reference  to  such  matters 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge  193 

as  the  character  and  place  in  Nature  of  the  Atlantean 
race  will  necessarily  have  very  great  weight. 

Indeed,  I  may  go  a  step  forward  in  explaining 
why  some  theosophic  students  at  all  events  come 
to  look  upon  facts  concerning  Atlantis,  and  the  light 
that  can  be  thrown  by  occult  inquiry  on  the  remote 
history  of  Egypt,  as  coming  within  the  range  of 
something  nearer  to  them  than  the  knowledge  of 
their  higher  teachers. 

An  instrument  of  research  is  placed  in  the  hands 
of  theosophic  students  sufficiently  advanced  to  make 
use  of  it,  which  actually  brings  a  great  deal  of  the 
ancient  history  of  the  earth  within  the  reach  of  their 
direct  perception.  This  is  the  faculty  of  actually 
seeing,  with  an  inner  sense  adapted  to  the  process, 
former  states  and  conditions  of  any  place  or  object 
with  which  the  seer  or  clairvoyant  may  be  in  contact. 
Many  people  of  our  day  are  so  ill-informed  concerning 
the  most  interesting  developments  of  science  in 
progress  around  us,  as  to  disbelieve  in  clairvoyance 
from  A  to  Z.  To  those  of  us  who  know  better,  that 
is  like  disbelieving  in  the  differential  calculus — an 
attitude  of  mind  simply  absurd  in  presence  of  re- 
corded facts  and  experience.  Clairvoyants  may  be 
one  per  mil,  one  in  ten  thousand  if  you  like,  of  the 
population  at  large,  but  they  are  sufficiently  numerous 
to  make  the  reality  of  their  capacities  as  certain  as 
the  occasional  capacity  of  the  human  mind  to  under- 
stand the  higher  mathematics. 

Clairvoyance  has  many  varieties  and  ramifications, 
but  that  with  which  I  am  concerned  for  the  moment 
has  been  called — ^rather  clumsily,  perhaps,  by  modern 
writers  dealing  with  it — psychometry.  In  its  simplest 
manifestation  it  is  not  very  uncommon.  I  have  met 
many  people,  besides  those  who  have  had  a  regular 
occult  training,  who  are  able,  by  fingering  a  letter, 
without  looking  at  it  or  reading  it — or  perhaps  by 

13 


194     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

putting  it  to  their  foreheads — to  get  impressions 
concerning  the  person  who  has  written  it,  extending 
sometimes  to  an  accurate  dehneation  of  his  outward 
appearance  and  character.  Now,  this  accompUsh- 
ment  depends  upon  facts  of  Nature  that  are  enor- 
mously important  in  their  wider  manifestations. 
Psychometrising  letters  bears  to  the  law  under  which 
it  becomes  possible  much  the  same  relation  that  the 
experiment  of  rubbing  sealing-wax  so  as  to  make  it 
attract  little  bits  of  paper  bears  to  the  whole  science 
of  electricity.  There  is  a  medium  in  Nature  in 
which  pictures,  so  to  speak,  of  all  that  has  ever  taken 
place  on  earth  are  indestructibly  preserved  for  ever. 
This  medium  is  spoken  of  in  the  occult  literature  of 
the  East  as  the  Akasa.  European  medieval  occultists 
mean  the  same  thing  when  they  speak  of  the  astral 
light.  This  astral  light  includes  a  record  for  those 
who  can  perceive  and  interpret  it,  that  dwarfs  to 
insignificance  the  value,  for  historical  purposes,  of  all 
the  written  documents  the  world  contains. 

Psychic  faculties  of  a  very  adept-like  order, 
educated,  moreover,  with  scientific  precision,  and 
borne  up  on  a  highly  spiritualized  character,  are 
required  for  the  complete  exploration  of  the  astral 
light.  Such  faculties  belong  to  the  higher  theosophic 
teachers,  and  it  is  partly  to  their  exercise  that  is 
due  the  knowledge  concerning  the  remote  past  of  the 
world  which  they  possess.  I  say  "partly"  because, 
in  truth,  the  higher  initiates  of  occultism  possess 
written  records  that  have  been  handed  down  to  them 
by  a  line  of  predecessors,  but  their  own  faculties 
enable  them  to  verify  these  at  any  time.  And,  in 
truth,  there  are  stages  of  development  which  many 
of  their  pupils  reach  from  which  a  great  deal  of 
historical — not  to  speak  for  the  moment  of  other 
sorts  of — information  can  be  gathered  from  the 
astral   light.     This   has   sometimes   been   called   the 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge  195 

Memory  of  Nature.  All  memory — even  that  of  the 
most  familiar  kind — is  in  truth  a  reading  in  the  astral 
light.  But  the  faculties  that  have  not  been  devel- 
oped by  occult  training  are  only  capable  of  reading 
those  records,  at  the  making  of  which  the  person 
concerned  has  actually  been  present.  Only  with 
those  have  his  astral  senses  been  closely  enough 
associated  to  make  it  possible  for  him  to  recover 
touch  with  them  at  will.  The  occultist  whose  astral 
senses  are  very  much  more  delicate  is  able  to  follow 
other  channels  of  association,  other  magnetic  currents, 
to  use  the  technical  expression,  and  this  hint  gives 
us  the  clue  to  the  comprehension  of  the  psychometric 
faculty.  >^^ 

Tangible  objects,  as  well  as  the  inner  vehicles  of 
human  consciousness,  are  connected  by  permanent 
magnetic  currents  with  the  astral  records  that  have 
been  originally  established  in  their  neighbourhood. 
The  trained  occultist,  by  touching  or  handling  such 
tangible  objects,  is  enabled  to  get  upon  these  currents, 
to  put  his  own  astral  senses  into  the  same  relationship 
with  the  astral  records  to  which  such  currents  lead,  as 
that  which  normally  exists  between  his  own  astral 
self  and  bygone  scenes  of  his  own  life  that  he  has 
witnessed.  Take  the  case  of  recollections  any  of  us 
may  entertain  of  some  distant  place  he  may  formerly 
have  visited.  Desirous  of  remembering  it,  he  turns 
back  his  thoughts  upon  that  page  of  his  memory,  and 
in  a  certain  interior  way  may  be  said  to  see  again  the 
scene  of  which  he  thinks.  The  occultist  in  the  same 
way  lays  his  hand  upon  the  stones  of  a  building — 
or  it  may  be  enough  for  him  merely  to  come  near 
them — and  he  can  follow  the  magnetic  thread  of 
connection  which  leads  back  his  consciousness  to  the 
early  events  with  which  they  were  associated. 

This  is  the  way  in  which,  for  the  occultist,  the 
pyramids  of  Egypt  may  be  made  to  tell  their  own 


196     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

story  very  much  more  fully  than  it  is  possible  to  trace 
this   with   the   help   of  fragmentary   inscriptions  or 
documents    accidentally    surviving    the    destroying 
influence  of  time.     The  extent  to  which  the  psycho- 
metric faculty  is  trustworthy  in  the  case  of  people 
below  the  level  of  adeptship  is  a  question  that  can 
only  be  considered  in  reference  to  each  case  in  turn; 
but,  at  all  events,  I  have  had  the  advantage  of  being 
assisted — in  such  attempts  as  I  have  made  to  pene- 
trate rather  more  deeply  than  usual  the  mystery  of 
Egyptian  antiquities — by  psychometric  power  of  a  very 
high  order,  and  I  have  been  enabled  to  check  the 
information  I  have  thus  received  through  the  fuller 
knowledge  possessed  by  those  from  whom  the  teaching 
put  forward  in  various  theosophic  books   from  my 
hand   has  been   derived.     In   this  way  I   have  been 
enabled  to  build  up  a  conception  of  the  early  beginnings 
of  Egyptian  civilization  which  constitutes  a  coherent 
and   intelligible   sketch   of   the   whole   process,   and 
synthesises  in  a  very  interesting  manner  a  great  deal 
of  disjointed   speculation   concerning   the   evolution 
of   the    human    race    towards    which    archaeological 
research  of  the  ordinary  kind  has  been  groping  its  way. 
I   will  now  put  forward   the  story  for  the  benefit 
of  all  who  may  be  sufficiently  in  touch  with  occult 
methods  of  investigation  to  appreciate  its  prima  facie 
claim  to  attention. 

/  Of  course,  the  investigation  of  Egyptian  beginnings 
/brings  us  into  relations  with  the  Atlantean  race.  If 
we  go  back  far  enough  in  the  history  of  mankind — 
if  we  go  back  a  million  years — we  find  ourselves  in 
the  midst  of  a  period  when  there  was  next  to  nothing 
else  in  the  nature  of  a  population  on  the  earth,  except 
the  Atlantean  race — inhabiting  many  regions,  as  the 
earth  was  then  configurated,  besides  those  which 
formed  part  of  the  continent  of  Atlantis — ^just  as  at 
the  present   day,  to   draw  an  illustration  from  one 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge  197 

of  the  minor  ethnological  divisions  of  our  own  great 
race,  the  Caucasians  inhabit  many  other  regions  of 
the  earth  besides  the  Caucasus.  But  different  rami- 
fications of  the  same  root  race  may  differ  very  widely 
from  each  other :  and  at  a  time  when  the  main  body 
of  the  Atlantean  race  on  the  continent  of  Atlantis 
had  attained  a  very  high  degree,  of  civilization  and 
power,  Egypt,  amongst  other' countries,  was  in  the 
occupation  of  a  relatively  primitive  people,  whom 
we  need  not  think  of  as  savage  or  barbarous  in  the 
worst  sense  of  those  words,  but  for  whom  the  arts 
and  customs  of  civilization  were  as  yet  a  closed 
book. 

As  far  back  as  800,000  years  ago  the  Atlantean 
continent,  having  all  but  fulfilled  its  destinies  in  the 
education  of  the  human  race,  began  to  melt  away. 
The  process  was  inaugurated  at  the  period  just 
mentioned  by  a  geological  catastrophe,  on  a  very 
stupendous  scale;  but  that  merely  began,  it  did  not 
accomplish,  what  is  known  to  occult  history  as  the 
submergence  of  Atlantis.  The  continent  held  out 
against  the  destructive  forces  of  Nature  till  about 
80,000  years  ago,  when  some  considerable  portions 
surviving  till  then  finally  disappeared,  leaving  only 
one  big  island — the  Atlantis  of  classical  tradition — 
which  perished  in  a  great  natural  convulsion  about 
11,500  years  ago,  a  date  originally  derived  from 
occult  teaching,  -  and  -  approximately  confirmed  by 
Le  Plongeon's  discoveries,  to  which  reference  has 
ahead}'-  been  made. 

During  the  enormous  period  covered  by  the  gradual 
submergence  of  the  great  land  masses  of  the  original 
continent,  extensive  migrations  to  other  regions  of 
the  then  existing  world  were  accomplished  by 
detachments  of  the  Atlantean  people.  The  most 
spiritually  enlightened  and  advanced  representatives 
of  the  race  were  especially  involved  in  these  migra- 


198     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

tions.  The  destruction  of  Atlantis  as  a  physical  pro- 
cess was  proceeding  parri  passu  with  the  moral 
degradation  of  the  people.  The  adepts  of  the  race 
shrank  away  as  much  from  the  incurable  degeneration 
of  their  countrymen  as  from  the  doomed  continent 
whose  fate  they  foresaw.  It  was  not  in  that  decaying 
and  corrupt  civilization  that  their  influence  could  any 
longer  be  exerted  with  advantage.  They  had  to 
discover  a  younger  and  more  vigorous  human  stock, 
on  which  to  graft  the  spiritual  impulse  of  which  they 
were  the  custodians.     .' 

At  that  period  a  large  part  of  Europe,  especially  of 
eastern  Europe,  was  an  uninhabited  swamp — scarcely 
upheaved  from  the  ocean  to  which  Atlantis  was 
returning.  But  Egypt,  though  very  different  in  its 
geography  from  the  Egypt  of  the  present  day,  was 
already  inhabited  land,  as  also  were  the  countries 
bounding  the  Mediterranean  on  the  east.  Some- 
where about  the  middle  of  the  enormous  period 
assigned  to  the  submergence  of  Atlantis,  a  good 
many  of  the  Atlantean  adepts,  accompanied  by 
considerable  numbers  of  their  uninitiated  contem- 
poraries, settled  in  these  countries,  as  also  by  degrees, 
and  later  on,  in  the  western  regions  of  our  present 
Europe,  as  well  as  in  many  parts  of  the  eastern  world. 
On  ground  which  is  now  part  of  our  own  British 
Islands,  though  it  had  not  at  that  time  separated 
itself  from  the  main  continent,  Atlantean  adepts  left 
traces  of  their  presence,  some  of  which  survive  to  the 
current  epoch.  In  Stonehenge  we  possess  a  memorial 
of  the  Atlantean  dispersion,  though  that  structure  is 
of  more  recent  date  than  the  pyramids  of  Egypt. 

For  a  very  long  time  the  adept  immigrants  who 
settled  in  what  is  now  Egypt  did  not  attempt  the 
education  of  the  people  in  the  arts  of  civilization. 
They  simply  resided  in  the  country,  and  there,  no 
doubt,  brought  forward  individual  pupils,  and  upheld 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge  199 

the  higher  spiritual  knowledge .  which,  however  ill 
qualified  to  assimilate  it  the  bulk  of  mankind  at  any- 
time may  be,  can  never  be  allowed  to  die  out  alto- 
gether, even  if  its  guardians,  as  they  sometimes  may 
in  the  crises  of  human  evolution,  diminish  to  a  few 
in  number.  What  may  have  been  the  nature  of  the 
unseen  spiritual  influence  they  were  bringing  to  bear 
all  the  while  on  the  people  amongst  whom  they  lived, 
is  a  question  that  I  need  not  attempt  to  deal  with 
here.  The  race  around  them  was  gradually  ripened 
for  the  teachings  of  a  lofty  civilization,  and  no  doubt 
was  largely  augmented  and  elevated  ethnologically 
by  the  infusion  of  the  immigrant  blood,  for,  as  I  have 
said,  large  numbers  of  Atlantean  people,  besides  those 
who  represented  the  adeptship  of  the  period,  accom- 
panied their  spiritual  leaders  in  their  migrations, 
and  mingled  their  descendants  with  the  original 
inhabitants  of  their  new  home. 

Thus,  at  last,  a  time  came  when  the  seed  sown 
amongst  them  germinated  effectually.  The  adepts 
began  to  teach  and  rule  as  well  as  to  reside  in  Egypt. 
The  vague  traditions  as  to  long  lines  of  Divine  Kings, 
who  preceded  those  dynasties  chronicled  by  Manetho, 
are  no  mere  fables  of  an  infant  humanity,  as  the 
narrow-minded  ignorance  of  materialistic  critics  in 
the  nineteenth  century  too  often  supposes  them. 
The  Divine  Kings  of  Egypt  were  the  early  adept 
rulers,  and  the  golden  age  of  Egyptian  greatness  was 
that  over  which  they  presided,  in  millenniums  far 
back  in  a  past  so  remote  that  one  almost  hesitates  to 
handle  the  real  figures,  amongst  people  of  whom 
onl}'-  a  few  as  yet  can  have  become  completely 
emancipated  from  the  mental  fetters,  as  regards  the 
duration  of  the  world's  history,  forged  for  modern 
Europeans  by  the  imbecile  interpretation  put  by  the 
theology  of  the  Middle  Ages  on  chronological  state- 
ments of  the  Bible.     In  following  back  the  history  of 


200     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

the  earliest  monuments  of  Egyptian  civilization,  by 
the  help  of  those  imperishable  records  still  to  be 
found,  as  vivid  as  ever,  in  the  Memory  of  Nature  by 
those  who  know  how  to  gain  access  to  its  boundless 
picture-gallery,  we  do  not  have  to  add  at  a  venture 
a  few  extra  millenniums  to  the  conventional  dates 
of  modern  Egyptologists,  but  to  measure  their 
ages  on  the  scale  of  Atlantean  history.  It  was  at  a 
midway  period  between  the  first  immigration  of 
Atlantean  adepts  in  Egypt,  and  the  stage  of  the  world's 
progress  we  have  now  reached,  that  the  pyramids 
were  really  built,  or,  in  other  words,  a  little  more  than 
two  hundred  thousand  years  ago.  Closely  connected 
as  they  were  in  their  origin  and  purpose  with  occult 
mysteries,  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  from  initiated 
informants  in  the  present  day  any  very  precise  state- 
ment concerning  the  design  which  they  subserved 
in  the  beginning.  I  have  gathered  a  hint  to  the  effect 
that,  although  no  doubt  from  the  beginning  used  as 
and  designed  to  be  temples  or  chambers  of  initiation 
— the  great  pyramid,  for  one,  certainly  containing  other 
chambers  besides  the  three  that  have  been  discovered 
— one  purpose  of  the  great  pyramid  was  the  protection 
of  some  tangible  objects  of  great  importance  having 
to  do  with  the  occult  mysteries.  These  were  buried 
in  the  rock,  it  is  said,  and  the  pyramid  was  reared 
over  them,  its  form  and  magnitude  being  adopted  to 
render  it  safe  from  the  hazards  of  earthquake,  and 
even  from  the  consequences  of  submergence  beneath 
the  sea  during  the  great  secular  undulations  of  the 
earth's  surface. 

This  brings  me  to  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
facts  about  the  pyramids,  among  those  which  modern 
research  has  never  suspected.  Within  the  enormous 
period  of  their  existence  there  has  been  time  for  more 
than  one  of  those  great  changes  in  the  configuration 
of  the  earth  brought  about  by  what  some  geologists, 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge         201 

at  all  events,  recognize  as  a  necessity  of  its  constitu- 
tion. The  alternative  elevations  and  depressions  of 
continents  and  ocean  beds  are  due  to  a  slow  pulsation 
of  the  body  of  the  earth,  that  may  be  likened,  as 
regards  the  surface,  to  the  undulations  of  a  sea  that 
has  settled  down  in  a  condition  of  almost  perfect 
calm,  but  is  still  gently  heaving  under  the  influence 
of  an  all  but  imperceptible  swell.  Probably  there 
are  cross  currents  in  such  undulations  that  may 
occasionally  intensify,  and  occasionally  minimize 
them ;  but,  at  any  rate,  they  cannot  be  excluded  from 
any  reasonable  scientific  hypothesis  concerning  the 
progress  of  geological  growth,  however  far  beyond 
the  reach  of  our  very  brief  historic  records  their  last 
manifestations  may  be  withdrawn. 

Occult  information  on  the  subject  brings  some  of 
them  into  view,  and  since  the  erection  of  the  earliest 
pyramids  one  such  undulation — connected  with  that 
which  had  to  do  with  the  final  submergence  of  the 
last  bit  of  the  old  Atlantean  Continent — depressed 
the  region  which  is  now  the  Lower  Nile  valley  below 
the  level  of  the  sea  which  spread  over  the  northern 
part  of  Africa — except  for  the  high  lands  near  the 
Mediterranean  coast.  The  west  coast  was  also  dry 
land  at  the  period  in  question,  but  the  present  desert 
of  Sahara  was  a  sea,  and  that  sea  spread  over  the  whole 
country  now  fertilized  by  the  Lower  Nile,  as  the 
huge  undulation  depressed  its  level. 

The  country  of  the  Upper  Nile  was  not  submerged, 
and  thither  no  doubt  the  population  of  Egypt,  to  a 
large  extent,  withdrew,  although  the  submergence, 
I  understand,  was  cataclysrnic  enough  in  its  character 
to  involve  some  destruction  of  life  among  those  who 
clung  longest  to  the  menaced  region.  At  all  events, 
I  am  told  that  there  was  a  considerable  migration  of 
the  people  to  the  east  and  west,  as  well  as  to  the 
south,  and  for  a  time — I  do  not  know  exactly  for  how 


2-02     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

long,  but  for  a  short  time  compared  with  the  general 
course  of  the  undulations  of  the  great  rock-sheet  of  the 
earth — the  pyramids  and  the  country  round  remained 
under  water.  Incidentally  this  will  suggest  that  the 
present  course  of  the  River  Nile  was  not  that  which 
it  followed  before  the  natural  convulsion  in  question. 
The  course  to-day  differs,  I  am  told,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  from  that  which  it  followed  in  the  age  of  the 
great  pyramid's  ^construction  as  high  up  as  Thebes. 
The  temple  of -ICarnac  is  an  Egyptian  monument  of 
enormous  a^aftiquity,  though  not  so  old  as  the  great 
pyramidyiSiid  it  never  shared  the  submergence  of  the 
pyramjjd;  but  as  far  as  the  course  of  the  river  was 
concerned,  that  was  different  from  what  it  is  now, 
even  as  high  up  as  Thebes,  at  the  time  of  the  erection 
of  the  temple  of  Karnac. 

The  sea  again  receded  from  lower  Egypt  after  an 
interval,  the  exact  duration  of  which  has  not  been 
given  to  me,  and  the  pyramids  were  again  left  dry. 
Rapidly  as  compared  with  the  geological  changes  in 
progress,  it  was  doubtless  repeopled,  and  again  taken 
in  charge  by  the  adept  kings.  I  am  inclined  to  regard 
the  period  which  now  came  on  as  the  really  golden 
age  of  Egyptian  civilization.  The  decline  did  not 
set  in  till  much  later.  But  Fate  held  another  shock 
in  reserve  for  the  ancient  State.  When  the  last  island 
remnant  of  Atlantis  was  submerged  with  cataclysmic 
violence  about  11,500  years  ago,  an  undulation  of 
the  oceans  led  to  some  enormous  inundations,  and 
without  again  becoming  the  bed  of  a  sea  as  on  the 
former  occasion,  the  land  of  Egypt  was  overwhelmed 
with  an  immense  flood,  which  again  dispersed  its 
people.  I  do  not  understand  that  this  was  on  such 
a  scale  as  again  to  submerge  the  pyramids,  but,  at  any 
rate,  the  population  was  drowned  or  driven  out  of  the 
surrounding  country — for  a  time.  When,  in  turn, 
this  flood  passed  away  and  population  spread  again 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge  203 

over  the  land,  there  began  that  downward  movement 
of  spirituahty  and  culture  which,  from  the  occultist's 
point  of  view,  is  the  final  brief  period  of  the  decadence 
of  Egyptian  civilization,  though,  for  the  modern 
Egyptologist,  it  includes  the  whole  range  of  Egyptian 
history,  behind  which  some  inquirers  begin  to  look 
out  for  the  evidences  of  primitive  man. 

Probably  when  the  decadent  period  began,  or 
was  somewhat  advanced,  the  tangible  objects,  what- 
ever they  were,  which  the  great  pyramid  was  designed 
to  cover,  were  removed  to  some  other  country  chosen 
as  the  headquarters  of  the  world's  adeptship.  And 
though,  as  long  as  the  ancient  wisdom  religion 
survived  in  Egypt  to  any  considerable  extent,  the 
pyramids  continued  to  fulfil  their  purpose  as  temples 
of  initiation,  by  degrees,  no  doubt,  the  full  knowledge 
concerning  their  uses  in  this  respect  faded  out  from 
among  the  people.  On  the  face  of  things,  it  would 
only  be  by  initiated  adepts  that  chambers  dedicated 
to  secret  ceremonies  could  be  put  to  such  uses,  and 
with  the  fading  out  of  the  adept  element  in  the  popu- 
lation, due  to  its  own  moral  deterioration,  the  old 
traditions  would  naturally  be  lost.  This  consideration 
will,  amongst  others,  abundantly  account  for  the 
multiplication  of  pyramids  in  comparatively  recent 
ages,  when,  certainly,  there  was  no  thought  on  the  part 
of  the  builders  of  using  them  in  connection  with  the 
introduction  of  neophytes  to  the  mysteries  of  occult 
science.  As  late  as  within  the  last  few  thousand 
years  some  of  the  pyramids  along  the  Nile  valley  have 
been  erected.  While,  therefore,  occult  teaching 
entirely  discountenances  the  conventional  theory 
that  the  pyramids  in  all  cases  were  put  up  to  serve 
as  the  tombs  of  monarchs,  it  opens  the  door  to  con- 
jectures along  that  road  as  regards  some  of  the  latest 
among  them.  From  an  antiquity  with  which  the 
decadent    dynasties    had    probably    lost    touch,    the 


204     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

example  of   the  earlier   pyramids  as  a  fashion    in 
architecture  had  obviously  been  handed  down. 

Certainly  the  coffer  of  the  great  pyramid  was  neither 
a  sarcophagus  nor,  as  Piazzi  Smyth  conjectures,  a 
standard  measure  of  capacity,  but  a  font  in  which 
certain  baptismal  ceremonies  connected  with  initia- 
tions were  carried  out.  It  is  possible,  however,  that 
in  the  later  and  degenerate  period  of  Egyptian  history 
— to  which  all  the  Manetho  dynasties  belong — some  of 
the  kings,  losing  touch  with  the  ideas  associated  with 
the  more  ancient  pyramids  in  the  beginning,  may 
have  followed  the  fashion  of  their  architecture  without 
knowing  why  it  was  originally  designed,  and  may 
have  put  up  pyramids  to  be  their  tombs.  I  under- 
stand definitely  that  this  was  the  case,  but  the  fact 
in  no  way  militates  against  the  explanations  just 
given. 

The  great  pyramid  has  been  assigned  by  most 
Egyptologists  to  a  king  of  the  fourth  dynasty, 
generally  known  as  Cheops,  or  more  correctly,  to 
students  of  hieroglyphics,  as  Khufu.  That  monarch 
is  supposed  to  have  built  it,  and  to^  have  gone  on 
adding  to  its  size  as  long  as  he  liy^5.  As  his  reign 
was  a  long  one,  the  enormo^^sr*  magnitude  of  the 
building — standing  on  a  bas^he  size  of  Lincoln's  Inn 
Fields — ^is  thus  accounted'^r.  My  own  information 
is  to  the  effect  that  Khufu  simply  restored  some 
portions  of  the  pyramid  that  had  suffered  injury,  also, 
for  reasons  that  I  have  not  heard  stated,  closing  up 
some  of  the  chambers  that  were  previously  accessible. 
It  is  admitted  by  modern  Egyptologists  that  the 
evidence  which  points  to  Khufu  as  the  builder  of  the 
pyramid  is  meagre,  although  the  original  guess  has 
been  quoted  so  often  now  that  most  writers  assume 
it  to  be  somehow  known  as  a  fact. 

The  manipulation  of  the  enormous  stones  used  in 
this  edifice,  as  also,  indeed,  the  construction  of  the 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge         205 

great  pyramid  itself,  can  only  be  explained  by  the 
application  to  these  tasks  of  some  knowledge  con- 
cerning the  forces  of  Nature  which  was  lost  to  man- 
kind during  the  decadence  of  Egyptian  civilization 
and  the  barbarism  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  has  not 
yet  been  recovered  by  modern  science.  This  branch 
of  the  subject,  however,  may  be  C9»veniently  re- 
viewed in  connection  with  som^^-<Jtner  architectural 
bequests  from  the  ages  in  wiiim  the  adepts  dispersed 
from  Atlantis  were  stiU^taking  part  in  the  external 
life  of  Egypt,  and^^,^imeed,  of  some  other  countries 
now  forming  -partoi  the  European  continent.  In 
England  itself^'e  have  architectural  remains  con- 
nected wifen  the  ascendancy  here  at  one  time  of 
Atlanta^  adepts,  the  interpretation  of  which  has 
been  as  much  clouded  by  fantastic  theories  as  by  the 
passage  of  the  ages  that  have  gone  by  since  their 
erection. 


Stonehenge  is  a  riddle  that  has  perplexed  specu- 
lation as  profoundly  in  its  way  as  the  pjTamids 
themselves.  Most  archaeologists  have  assumed  that 
it  was  erected  by  the  Druids  of  ancient  Britain,  who 
were  already  disappearing  as  a  priestly  caste  at  the 
time  of  the  Roman  invasion,  although  still  carrying 
on  secret  and  sanguinary  rites  to  which  some  Roman 
historians  have  referred.  This  somewhat  crude  con- 
jecture, which  offered  no  explanation  of  the  methods 
by  which  an  uncivilized  race  of  people  like  those 
inhabiting  the  Britain  that  Julius  Caesar  conquered, 
could  have  handled  the  enormous  monoliths  of  which 
Stonehenge  consists,  did  not  satisfy  Mr.  James 
Fergusson,  who  has  devoted  so  much  painstaking 
research  to  the  subject  of  the  Rude  Stone  Monu' 
merits,  dealt  with  in  his  interesting  volume  bearing 


2o6     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

that  title.  Mr.  Fergusson  had  a  passion  for  dis- 
cerning a  recent  origin  in  all  the  remains  of  antiquity^ 
and,  taking  advantage  of  the  obscurity  that  hangs 
over  two  or  three  hundred  years  of  English  history, 
following  on  the  abandonment  of  these  islands  by 
the  Romans,  he  has  developed  an  elaborate  hypo- 
thesis, according  to  which  Stonehenge  was  erected  in 
the  time  of  King  Arthur,  to  celebrate  one  of  the 
twelve  great  battles  in  which  that  hero  is  said  to  have 
overthrown  the  heathen.  Mr.  Fergusson  will  have 
nothing  to  say  to  previous  arguments  that  had 
assigned  a  religious  purpose  to  the  great  relics  on 
Salisbury  Plain,  and  makes  them  out  to  have  baen 
nothing  more  than  stones  set  up  to  commemorate 
a  victory.  He  could  not  by  any  intentional  efforts 
to  that  end  have  supplied  us  with  a  more  grotesque 
reductio  ad  absurdum  of  that  general  view  of  the 
world  which  regards  the  civilization  now  around  us 
as  having  grown  up  from  an  immediately  preceding 
condition  of  primeval  human  infancy.  One  of  the 
reasons  for  which  Mr.  Fergusson  rejects  the  Druidical 
theory  is  derived  from  the  impossibility  of  supposing 
that  such  a  mere  race  of  savages  as  the  Romans  found 
in  Britain  could  have  handled  the  stone  masses  of 
which  the  ruin  in  question  consists ;  but  he  is  content 
to  pass  lightly  over  this  embarrassment  in  dealing 
with  his  own  theory,  on  the  assumption  that  after 
the  Roman  occupation  the  Britons  would  have 
picked  up  a  good  deal  of  engineering  knowledge  from 
their  conquerors.  The  Romans  themselves  would 
have  been  no  better  able  than  the  Britons  to  manipu- 
late the  materials  of  Stonehenge.  The  "  imposts" 
or  upper  stones  of  the  great  trilithons  are  themselves 
about  eleven  tons  each  in  weight,  and  the  uprights 
thirty  tons  each.  It  is  nonsense  to  talk  of  such 
masses  as  being  moved  about  and  set  up  in  their 
places  with  great  exactitude  by  builders  simply  em- 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge  207 

ploying  the  strength  of  human  muscles  in  the  work. 
The  mechanical  resources  of  the  present  day  would 
be  heavily  taxed  to  erect  a  second  Stonehenge  beside 
the  first.  Nor  is  the  absurdity  of  such  a  hypothesis 
measured  merely  by  the  weight  of  the  monoliths  on 
Salisbury  Plain.  By  Mr.  Fergusson's  own  admissions 
we  have  to  bring  into  our  survey  of  the  past  the 
remains  of  Stonehenge  and  Avebury,  and  also  the 
innumerable  "  dolmens  "  that  are  found  about  these 
islands,  and  in  larger  numbers  in  France,  Spain,  and 
Scandinavia.  It  is  no  use  to  give  an  explanation 
that  will  fit  in  with  facts  in  one  case,  if  it  fails  to 
square  with  those  of  another.  The  dolmens  have 
to  be  accounted  for  as  well  as  the  Arthurian  battle 
memorials.  And  in  the  case  of  some  among  the 
dolmens  the  weights  to  be  dealt  with  throw  those 
of  Stonehenge  into  the  shade.  Dolmens  are  simple 
structures,  in  which  one  mass  of  rock — the  capstone 
— is  hoisted  up  on  three  or  more  supports;  and  one 
measured  in  Cornwall,  in  the  parish  of  Constantine, 
is  computed  to  weigh  750  tons.  Another  in  Pem- 
brokeshire is  a  great  tabular  slab,  big  enough  for 
five  people  on  horseback  to  take  shelter  beneath  it. 
What  were  the  uses  to  which  these  strange  monu- 
ments were  put  ?  The  Arthurian  hypothesis  leaves 
the  matter  as  much  in  the  dark  as  the  Druidical 
theory  at  which  Mr.  Fergusson  takes  offence.  And 
the  notion  that  the  Britons  might  have  become 
qualified  to  raise  capstones  weighing  750  tons,  merely 
because  they  had  picked  up  some  engineering  skill 
by  watching  the  Roman  road-makers,  is  too  childish 
to  consider  seriously. 

People  who  contend,  with  Mr.  Fergusson,  that  the 
rude  stone  monuments  must  have  been  put  up  in 
the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  because  we  know 
they  have  not  been  built  since,  while  they  could  not 
have  been  erected  by  primeval  savages,  are  simply — 


2o8     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

without  setting  out  on  that  argument  consciously — 
making  smooth  the  path  that  conducts  us  back,  in 
search  of  an  explanation,  to  a  civiHzation  anterior  to 
our  own,  the  traces  of  which  have  all  but  evaporated 
from  the  records  from  which,  till  lately,  we  have 
been  constructing  the  history  of  the  ancient  world. 
I  Atlantis  is  the  only  rational  clue  to  the  comprehension 
k  of  Stonehenge,  just  as  it  affords  the  only  satisfactory 
solution  of  ancient  Egypt. 

The  information  on  the  subject  to  be  gathered  from 
those  to  whom  the  Memory  of  Nature  is  an  open 
book,  shows  us  the  dispersed  adepts  from  Atlantis 
as  the  founders  in  Western  Europe  of  the  religious  rites 
that  Stonehenge  was  designed  to  subserve.  At  a  much 
later  period  than  that  which  witnessed  the  Atlantean 
migration  to  Egypt,  some  representatives  of  the  higher 
Atlantean  occultism  established  themselves  in  the 
country  which,  in  the  subsequent  changes  of  physical 
geography,  was  destined  to  become  the  British  Isles. 
Their  influence  established  a  civilization  among  the 
people  which  did  not  prove  of  the  strong  and  enduring 
character  attaching  to  that  planted  in  Egypt,  but 
which,  nevertheless,  gave  rise  to  considerable  cities, 
all  traces  of  which  have  now  passed  away.  And 
Stonehenge  was  erected  as  a  temple,  in  which  the 
exoteric  worship  they  taught  to  the  people  could  be 
carried. on.  It  was  never  covered  with  any  roof. 
Its  rude  structure  was  purposely  adopted  by  the  exiles 
from  Atlantis  as  a  mute  protest  against  the  corrupt 
luxury  of  the  perishing  civilization  they  had  left 
behind.  In  Atlantis  itself  the  human  family  had 
touched  the  nadir  point  of  materiality.  Great  develop- 
ments of  scientific  knowledge  had  been  turned  entirely 
to  the  service  of  the  physical  life,  and  spiritual 
aspiration  was  entirely  stifled  in  the  pursuit  of  material 
welfare.  Personal  luxury,  cultivated  by  those  who 
were  strong  enough  to  secure  it  for  themselves,  was 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge         209 

the  goal  to  which  all  the  energies  of  the  race  were  bent. 
Many  secrets  of  Nature,  which  the  science  of  this  fifth 
race  has  not  yet  recovered,  were  degraded  to  the 
exclusive  service  of  physical  enjoyment  by  the 
dominant  classes — for  an  inferior,  servile  race  also 
inhabited  the  country — and  the  spiritual  adepts  of 
the  period  turned, with  disgust  from  a  community 
which  it  was  not  in  ^eir  power  to  redeem.  They  set 
themselves  the  task  of  implanting  amongst  a  simpler 
and  relatively  barbarous  population  abroad,  whose 
descendants  were  destine'd,  in  progress  of  time,  to 
melt  into  the  next  great  race,  the  spiritual  enthusiasm 
that  might,  in  thej**  case,  lead  on  to  an  ennobled 
future.  So  the  ^iternal  ceremonies  of  the  religion 
they  taught  we^^carried  on  under  their  guidance  with 
stern  simplic><fy.  They  built  their  great  temple,  of 
unhewn  toqks.  They  sought  no  architectural  effects 
that  wmdd  divert  attention  from  Nature.  They 
invested  their  great  cathedral  with  no  other  claims 
to  a^^iration  but  those  depending  on  the  massive 
grandeur  of  its  proportions. 

But  how  did  they  overcome  the  difficulty  of  man- 
ipulating the  huge  masses  of  stone,  the  mere  super- 
position of  which,  one  upon  the  other,  seems  to  have 
demanded  mechanical  resources  which  we  can  hardly 
associate  in  imagination  with  any  period  but  our 
own  ?  For  that  matter,  in  Atlantis  itself  it  may  be 
found,  when  fuller  light  is  ultimately  cast  upon  its 
history,  that  mechanical  resources  of  a  very  advanced 
order  were  available  for  any  work  that  needed  them ; 
but  the  builders  of  that  age  were  not  exclusively 
dependent  on  appliances  of  the  kind  we  now  make 
use  of  in  handling  large  masses  of  material.  In  the 
maturity  of  Atlantean  civilization  some  forces  of 
Nature,  now  only  under  the  control  of  adepts  in  occult 
science,  were  in  general  use.  The  adepts  of  the  time 
were  under  no  obligation  to  keep  the  secret  of  their 

14 


2IO     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

existence  jealously  guarded;  and  among  them  was 
that  power,  so  rarely  exercised  now  that  its  very 
existence  is  scornfully  derided  by  the  commonplace 
crowd — the  power  of  modifying  the  force  we  call 
gravity. 

It  is  rarely  of  use  in  piibHc  utterances  in  the  present 
day,  when  current  intelligence  is  engaged  in  channels 
far  removed  from  those  of  occult  attainment,  to  speak 
of  adept  powers  that  are  wholly  out  of  gear  with 
modern  experience  of  natural  possibilities.  But  in 
reference  to  the  peculiar  power  to  which  I  have  just 
referred,  the  truth  is  that  the  modification  of  the 
force  of  gravity,  by  methods  human  ingenuity  may 
bring  into  play,  can  only  seem  absurd  to  people  who 
are  ignorant  of  certain  suggestive  facts  already  within 
the  experience  of  scientific  investigation  and,  at  the 
same  time,  wilfully  blind  to  the  evidence  of  mysterious 
occurrences  notoriously  taking  place,  though  alto- 
gether unexplained  so  far,  in  the  realm  of  spiritualistic 
experience.  Theosophists  are,  of  course,  very  far 
from  accepting  the  theories  of  spiritualism  in  regard 
to  the  destinies  of  the  human  soul  after  death;  but 
the  external  facts,  familiar  to  the  investigators  of 
spiritualism,  are  facts  none  the  less  which  must  be 
fitted  into  their  places  in  any  conceptions  of  Nature 
framed  by  intelligent  reasoning.  The  foolish  crowd 
ignore  these,  because  impostors  are  constantly  de- 
tected in  imitating  by  trickery  the  comparatively 
rare  phenomena  which,  under  the  auspices  of  spiritual 
mediumship,  illustrate  the  occasional  activity  of 
forces  that  set  at  defiance  the  very  limited  knowledge 
of  natural  secrets  generally  diffused  amongst  us  at 
present.  But  the  remark  attributed  to  Galileo, 
e  pur  si  muove,  is  highly  applicable  in  this  case.  In 
face  of  all  that  has  been  recorded  by  qualified 
spiritualistic  investigators — a  body  of  testimony  which 
is  not  affected  in  the  smallest  degree  by  exposures  of 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge         211 

sham  spiritualism  in  other  cases — it  is  curiously  illus- 
trative of  the  capacities  of  human  stupidity,  that 
people,  fancying  themselves  clear-headed  and 
sagacious,  should  continue  to  discredit  the  fact  that, 
at  spiritual  seances,  heavy  objects  are  sometimes 
"levitated,"  caused,  that  is,  to  rise  or  even  float 
about  in  the  air  under  the  influence  of  invisible  agencies, 
or  forces  that  have  for  the  time  being  counteracted, 
as  far  as  such  objects  are  concerned,  the  usually 
operative  force  called  gravity. 

But  that  which  happens  only  now  and  then,  no 
matter  how  rarely,  must  be  traceable,  if  only  we 
knew  enough,  to  the  operation  of  some  law  as  natural 
as  that  under  which  steam  expands.  Nor  is  there 
anything  in  the  essence  of  the  matter  more  mysterious 
in  the  fact  that  solid  objects  are  sometimes  repelled 
from  the  earth — or  levitated — than  in  the  other  fact 
that  more  usually  they  are  attractedy^  No  modern 
physicist  has  as  yet  any  glimmering  conception 
as  to  why  or  how  gravity  works/^  We  are  no  better 
informed  at  this  moment  than  Newton  as  to  why 
the  apple  falls.  We  can,  to  a  certain  extent,  measure 
the  force  which  controls  it;  we  do  not  know  what 
that  force  is.  So  with  magnetism.  There  we  have 
an  agency  we  can  observe  in  action  both  ways — 
as  an  attractive  and  as  a  repulsive  force.  Stimulate 
an  electro-magnet  in  one  way  and  it  will  attract  iron ; 
stimulate  it  in  another  way  and  it  will  repel  copper, 
so  that  a  mass  of  that  metal  may  be  visibly  levitated 
and  kept  floating  on  nothing,  apparently,  at  some 
height  above  the  apparatus  repelling  it.  Electricians 
observe  and  can  reproduce  the  fact;  they  do  not 
understand  it.  The  levitation  of  tables  and  human 
beings  at  spiritual  seances  can  only  be  observed 
occasionally  and  cannot  be  reproduced  at  will — not 
by  ordinary  observers,  at  all  events — but  the  fact  has 
to  be  faced  by  reasonable  men,  and  brought  into 


212     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

/ 

relation  with  our  general  thinkingy^It  is  stupid  to 
attempt  an  escape  from  the  difficulty  of  not  under- 
standing it  by  declaring,  in  spite  of  the  evidence, 
that  the  fact  is  not  a  fact.  Jr 

When,  therefore,  theosophists  learn  from  those 
among  them  in  a  position  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  powers  exercised  by  the  adepts  of  occult  science, 
that  such  persons  can  in  the  present  day,  as  of  old, 
modify  the  action  of  the  force  we  call  gravity,  so  as  to 
levitate  ordinarily  heavy  objects  like  masses  of  stone, 
there  ought  not  to  be  any  ijidignant  revolt  of  the 
understanding  against  such  a  statement.  As  yet  it  is 
impossible  to  offer  the  ordinary  reader  direct  evidence 
to  that  effect  of  a  kind  that  is  calculated  to  compel 
his  belief.  But  the  general  situation,  as  I  have 
shown,  is  such  that  any  positive  declaration  of  disbelief 
in  the  allegation  can  only  be  due  to  ignorance  or 
stupidity.  Therefore,  we  who  have  what  we  hold 
to  be  trustworthy  information  on  the  matter  may  at 
least  put  it  forward,  very  careless  of  scoffing,  which, 
in  view  of  collateral  knowledge  now  available,  stands 
self-condemned  as  irrational.  The_  adept  custodians 
of  that  knowledge,  concerning  the  mysteries  of  Nature, 
which  is  filtering  into  the  world  at  large  by  degrees 
as  science  advances,  can  and  always  have  been  able 
to  control  the  attractions  of  matter  in  such  a  way 
as  to  alter  the  effective  weight  of  heavy  bodies  at  will. 
That  is  the  whole  explanation  of  the  marvels  of 
megalithic  architecture.  Working  under  the  guidance 
and  with  the  help  of  the  adepts  from  Atlantis,  the 
builders  of  Stonehenge,  and  of  the  ancient  "  dolmen  " 
altars  found  the  enormous  masses  of  stone  they  used 
light  enough  to  be  handled  with  facility.  Clairvoyant 
observers  of  Stonehenge  have  seen  the  process  of  its 
construction  going  on.  The  pictures  of  its  progress 
are  all  indelibly  imprinted  on  the  Memory  of  Nature  : 
they  are  visible  now,  as  plainly  as  the  actual  trans- 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge         213 

actions  were  visible  for  those  who  were  present. 
And  the  vision  shows  us  the  enormous  masses  of  the 
triUthons  being  raised  to  their  places  with  the  help 
of  scaffoldings,  no  more  substantial  in  their  character 
than  would  be  used  to  day  in  the  erection  of  a  brick 
cottage. 

Of  course,  although  I  did  not  interrupt  my  narrative 
of  the  origin  of  the  pyramids  to  say  so,  the  great 
stones  of  which  they  are  composed  were  treated  in  the 
same  way  as  the  materials  of  Stonehenge.  The  adepts 
who  directed  their  construction  facilitated  the  process 
by  the  partial  levitation  of  the  stones  used.  This  is 
the  simple,  though  in  one  way  no  doubt  deeply 
mysterious,  explanation  of  the  old-world  monuments 
in  which  enormous  masses  of  stone  are  employed. 
At  the  temple  of  Baalbec,  in  Syria,  there  are  single 
stones  built  into  the  walls,  each  of  which  is  calculated 
to  weigh  about  i  ,500  tons.  Preferring  an  explanation 
of  such  remains  which  only  seems  reasonable  because 
it  makes  no  appeal  to  forces  and  powers  with  which 
we  are  unacquainted,  archaeologists  have  hitherto 
been  content  to  assume  that,  with  an  unlimited 
command  of  human  labour,  the  builders  of  such 
temples  as  that  of  Baalbec  may  have  been  able  to 
get  their  great  stones  dragged  along  causeways  on 
rollers,  and  may  somehow  have  hoisted  them  up 
into  their  places  with  the  help  of  inclined  planes. 
Such  hypotheses  make  larger  drafts  upon  credulity 
really  than  those  involved  in  the  occult  statement. 
They  call  upon  us  to  believe  that  which  is  physically 
impossible;  but  the  impossibility  is  acceptable 
because  it  is  disguised  in  commonplace  phraseology 
Stonehenge  and  Baalbec  really  stand  before  us 
imperishable  proofs  that,  in  the  age  of  their  construc- 
tion, whenever  that  may  have  been,  the  world  was 
witness  of  an  engineering  which  did  not  accomplish  its 
triumphs  by  brute  strength,  but  by  the  application 


214     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

of  a  finer  knowledge  than  even  modern  engineering 
has  as  yet  recovered. 

I  have  said  that  it  was  at  a  much  later  period  than 
that  at  which  the  Atlantean  adepts,  who  first  left  the 
perishing  continent,  took  up  their  residence  in  Egypt, 
that  those  who  settled  in  Western  Europe  set  on  foot 
the  grand  and  simple  spiritual  worship  which  Stone- 
henge  in  the  first  instance  was  employed  to  subserve. 
It  was  at  a  much  later  period  even  than  that  at  which 
the  pyramids  were  erected.  I  do  not  know  whether 
there  was  any  long  residence  by  Atlantean  adepts 
in  Western  Europe  prior  to  the  introduction  of  their 
teaching  among  the  people.  Probably  there  was,  but, 
at  all  events,  it  was  near  the  final  culmination  of  the 
great  Atlantean  continent's  submergence,  about 
100,000  years  ago  from  the  present  time,  that  the 
grey  stones  still  standing  on  Salisbury  Plain  were 
first  established  in  their  places.  Among  the  facts 
concerning  them,  which  supporters  of  Fergusson's 
grotesque  theory  have  to  pass  over  very  lightly,  is 
one  which  relates  to  the  geological  character  of  the 
stones  used.  The  outer  circle  and  the  stones  of  the 
great  trilithons  are  of  a  composition  that  suggest 
their  derivation  from  quarries  in  the  neighbourhood. 
But  the  inner  circle  and  the  altar  stone  are  of  a 
totally  different  formation,  of  a  kind  which  cannot  be 
identified  with  any  rockbeds  in  that  part  of  England. 
Such  stone  is  to  be  found  in  Cornwall,  in  Wales,  and 
in  Ireland,  but  nowhere  nearer.  So  from  one  of  these 
regions  the  materials  of  the  inner  circle  must  certainly 
have  been  brought.  Reasoning  of  the  kind  that  is 
never  shocked  by  an  absurdity,  but  is  only  offended 
by  the  suggestion  that  modern  knowledge  does  not 
embrace  all  the  capacities  of  Nature,  is  content  com- 
placently to  suppose  that  the  Stonehenge  builders 
brought  the  massive  materials  in  question  across 
many    hundred    miles    of    primeval    forest-covered 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge         215 

country,  or,  by  sea — all  for  the  sake  of  a  battle 
memorial  on  Salisbury  Plain— when  abundant  stone, 
just  as  good  and  durable,  was  to  be  had  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. The  nature  of  the  Stonehenge  materials 
would  be  alone  enough  to  make  the  Arthurian  theory 
ridiculous,  even  if  it  would  bear  consideration  along 
other  lines  of  attack.  For  the  purposes  of  a  mystic 
temple,  however,  everyone  who  has  a  glimmering  of 
occult  knowledge  will  apprehend  that  there  may  have 
been  considerations  connected  with  those  subtle 
attributes  of  different  kinds  of  stone,  which  occultists 
generally  call  their  magnetism,  that  wo^ld  prescribe 
the  employment  of  more  than  one  kind.^y 

The  worship  of  the  early  Druids,  to  give  that  name 
to  the  occult  teachers  who  made  Stonehenge  their 
headquarters,  was  grandiose  and  simple.  There  were 
processions  and  chaunts  and  symbolical  ceremonies 
associated  with  astronomical  events,  especially  with 
the  rising  of  the  sun  on  Midsummer  Day,  when  great 
crowds  of  people  assembled  to  witness  the  sun's  rays, 
at  the  moment  of  his  rising,  shoot  through  an  opening 
opposite  to  the  altar,  and  illuminate  the  sacred  stone. 
There  were  no  unholy  sacrifices  offered  on  the  altar 
in  those  days,  and  the  only  external  ceremony  of  a 
sacrificial  nature  that  took  place  had  to  do  with  a 
libation  of  milk  that  was  poured  over  the  stone.  In 
accordance  with  the  elaborate  symbolism  of  early 
occult  rites,  a  great  deal  of  importance  was  attached 
to  the  serpent  as  an  emblem  of  multifarious  signi- 
ficance, and  as  the  adept  Druids  could  easily  control 
these  creatures,  an  actual  living  serpent  was  made 
to  glide  up  into  the  altar  stone  at  the  sunrise  ceremony, 
and  lap  the  milk.  There  is  some  truth,  but  much 
more  misconception,  in  prevailing  notions  concerning 
what  is  called  the  "  Serpent  Worship  "  of  olden  times. 
The  failure  of  modern  students  of  religion  to  dis- 
criminate between  worship  and  the  use  of  symbols 


2i6     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

has  had  to  do  with  graver  misconceptions  even  than 
those  which  have  entangled  the  commonplace  inter- 
pretations of  serpent  worship. 

The  chief  Druid  of  the  Stonehenge  ceremonies  in  the 
days  of  the  pure  worship  in  the  beginning  used  to  march 
in  some  of  the  processions  with  a  live  serpent  round  his 
neck.  Later  on,  when  the  adept  influence  was  no 
longer  present — many  millenniums  later — the  degraded 
chiefs  of  the  Druid  decadence  used  to  keep  up  the  old 
tradition  in  so  far  as  it  lay  in  them  to  do  so,  but  for 
prudential  reasons  wore  a  dead  serpent — a  more  fitting 
emblem  than  they  supposed  of  the  state  of  the  faith 
they  represented.  Lower  and  lower  its  practices 
became  debased,  until  the  once  sacred  altar  stone  was 
deluged  no  longer  with  milk,  but  with  the  blood  of 
human  victims,  and  this  was  the  only  sort  of  Druid 
worship  of  which,  through  Roman  historians,  we 
have  any  written  records.  How  did  it  happen  that 
so  terrible  a  change  came  on  ?  The  age  apparently, 
as  far  as  ancient  Britain  was  concerned,  was  not 
sufficiently  advanced  to  provide  the  earlier  adepts 
with  a  continuous  line  of  successors.  Eventually, 
it  is  to  be  presumed,  one  by  one,  no  doubt,  the  earlier 
adepts  ceased  to  incarnate  among  the  people  they 
could  not  lead  on  to  the  path  of  true  spiritual  progress. 
In  Egypt  the  graft  they  planted  took  a  firm  hold  of 
the  stock  to  which  it  was  attached.  In  Britain  it 
did  not,  and  thus,  while  Egypt  remained  to  a  com- 
paratively recent  period  a  land  of  high  civilization, 
and  one  of  the  principal  centres  of  fifth-race  adeptship, 
Britain  relapsed  back  into  barbarism.  Up  to  only 
i  a  few  thousand  years  before  the  Roman  conquest  it 
I  remained  still  faintly  tinged  with  the  remote  tradi- 
1  tions  of  its  vanishing  civilization,  then  it  sank  to  its 
I  lowest  condition  of  decay  before  the  commencement 
|of  its  modern  cycle  of  progress  within  the  historic 
period. 


-I 


The  Pyramids  and  Stonehenge         217 

This  sweeping  survey  of  a  past  that  will  be  more 
fully  recalled,  no  doubt,  in  progress  of  time,  as  the 
world  learns  better  to  appreciate  the  inner  faculties 
of  man,  slight  and  sketchy  though  it  be,  has  only 
been  rendered  possible  by  much  patient  gleaning  on 
my  part,  opportunities  being  made  use  of  as  they 
arose.  It  is  possible  at  a  later  date  that  I  may  be 
able  to  fill  up  some  details,  but  I  hope  the  imperfect 
suggestions  of  this  essay  may  meanwhile  be  accepted 
as  contributing  in  some  measure  to  show  how  im- 
peratively necessary  it  is  to  bring  the  Atlantean  origin 
of  all  civilizations  belonging  to  our  age  into  the 
scheme  of  our  thinking,  if  we  are  to  hope  for  anything 
resembling  a  correct  interpretation  of  the  ancient 
world. 


THEOSOPHICAL   TEACHINGS  LIABLE  TO  BE 
MISUNDERSTOOD 

In  the  beginning  of  our  theosophical  studies  we  had 
to  be  content  with  very  crude  conceptions  concerning 
the  great  ideas  to  which  we  were  then  introduced. 
It  was  not  possible  for  those  who  were  endeavouring 
to  teach  us  to  convey  to  us,  all  at  once,  a  compre- 
hension of  those  higher  planes  of  nature  some  under- 
standing of  which  is  absolutely  necessary  to  a  correct 
appreciation  of  even  some  fundamental  principles 
that  we  have  to  deal  with.  Indeed,  that  embarrass- 
ment has,  it  seems  to  me,  impeded  all  attempts  at 
metaphysical  thought  that  have  antedated  the 
theosophical  movement.  Intensely  keen  intellectual 
activity  has  been  devoted  to  the  effort  to  penetrate 
"  the  Veil  of  Isis,"  to  outstrip  the  range  of  the  physical 
senses,  to  determine  the  nature  of  matter,  and  to 
analyze  processes  of  thought.  But  it  has  all 
amounted  to  very  little  as  compared  with  the  flood  of 
significant  teaching  that  we  have  been  able  to  obtain 
during  the  theosophical  period.  With  the  help  of  this, 
by  degrees,  it  has  come  to  pass  that,  in  spite  of  the 
enormous  difficuRy  of  grappling  in  imagination  with 
conditions  of  consciousness  outside  those  with  which 
we  are  familiar,  we  have  gradually  been  able  to 
surround  some  of  the  earlier  teaching  with  illumina- 
tion which  invests  it  with  fuller  meaning  than  we  could 
attach  to  it  at  first.  We  have  thus  come  to  realize 
that  some  of  our  earlier  conceptions,  though  not 
erroneous — indeed,  no  teaching  that  I  have  had  to  do 
with,  as  given  to  us  in  the  beginning,  need  at  this 

218 


Theosophical  Teachings  Misunderstood     219 

later  date  be  withdrawn  as  erroneous — were  incom- 
plete to  that  extent  that  they  have  given  rise  to 
misunderstandings;  and  the  attempt  to  clear  up 
some  of  those  misunderstandings  is  the  task  on  which 
I  am  now  venturing  to  enter. 

Foremost  amongst  theosophical  teachings  liable 
to  be  misunderstood — for  want  of  adequate  compre- 
hension concerning  conditions  of  life  hereafter  and 
on  higher  planes — stands  that  fundamental  idea, 
Reincarnation,  the  great  law  which  from  the  earliest 
beginnings  of  theosophical  study  we  have  realized 
as  an  essential  principle  of  evolution .  Not  only  among 
theosophists  has  the  idea  been  appreciated.  It  is  even 
surprising,  considering  how  much  there  is  in  the  idea 
to  excite  repugnance  on  the  part  of  people  who  do 
not  understand  it  properly,  that  it  has  made  way 
to  the  extent  that  we  have  seen,  gradually  conquering 
acceptance  more  widely  than  theosophical  teaching 
does  this  generally.  It  has  frequently  been  defended 
in  pulpits  as  not  incompatible  with  ordinary  religious 
teaching ;  it  has  been  accepted  by  people  quite  outside 
the  range  of  theosophical  influence,  as  the  only  pos- 
sible explanation  of  what  seems  the  terrible  injustice 
reigning  in  the  world — the  mysterious  inequalities  of 
condition  that  we  see  around  us,  the  differences  not 
merely  of  welfare,  but  of  moral  and  intellectual 
development,  of  environment,  and  so  forth,  which 
render  human  life  so  painfully  variegated.  But 
theoretical  acceptance  of  the  idea  has  not  always 
rendered  it  welcome  to  people  who  want  to  realize 
precisely  how  the  law  will  work  when  they  come  to  be 
reincarnated,  who  are  troubled  with  anxieties  in  that 
way  that  render  the  whole  conception  exceedingly 
repulsive.  They  persist  in  thinking  of  themselves  as 
plunged  afresh  into  babyhood,  as  coming  back  with 
the  consciousness  they  are  now  invested  with,  to  be 
again  subject  to  the  appalling  limitations  of  the  infant 


220     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

condition.  They  think  of  themselves  as  fretting 
against  the  Hmitations  of  the  baby  state,  wearily 
enduring  their  slow  progress  towards  maturity.  We 
have  to  get  rid  of  all  such  ideas  absolutely  and  entirely 
before  we  understand  what  reincarnation  means, 
and  the  first  difficulty  in  the  way  of  getting  rid  of 
them,  has  to  do  with  the  distinction  between  the 
personality  of  any  given  life  and  the  Ego  of  which 
that  personality  is  a  temporary  expression. 

As  we  approach  an  understanding  of  this  distinction 
a  new  difficulty  is  apt  to  spring  up.  When  told  that 
the  personality  of  any  given  life  is  going  to  be  merged 
in  the  Ego — as  we  are  definitely  assured  will  be  the 
case  as  a  rule — to  the  extent  that  the  details  of  the 
last  life  will  fade  by  degrees  from  memory,  that  seems 
to  imply  something  resembling  the  annihilation  of 
personal  consciousness,  the  only  kind  which  seems 
real,  as  contemplated  from  the  physical  plane  point 
of  view.  The  same  comfortless  thought  surrounds 
a  mistaken  conception  that  has  sometimes  been  put 
forward  in  regard  to  the  ultimate  destinies  of  humanity 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  Manvantara,  the  alleged 
re-absorption  in  that  Divinity  out  of  which  in  the 
beginning  humanity  emerged.  Of  course,  if  per- 
sonalities even  remotely  resembling  what  they  are 
now  were  absorbed  into  Divinitj'-,  as  a  drop  of  water 
is  absorbed  in  the  ocean,  that  would  be  equivalent  to 
annihilation,  and  mergence  in  the  Ego  when  the 
personality  is  passing  on  from  this  life  to  another 
seems,  again,  a  species  of  annihilation,  for  most 
people  unable  to  escape,  in  imagination,  from  the 
conditions  of  the  current  personality. 

Now  what  we  have  to  remember,  first  of  all,  in 
order  to  get  rid  of  that  misconception,  is  that  pro- 
tracted and  vivid  conditions  of  life  intervene  between 
the  disappearance  from  this  plane  of  any  given 
personality  and  the  next   presentation  of   the  Ego 


Theosophical  Teachings  Misunderstood     221 

on  the  physical  plane  in  accordance  with  the  law  of 
rebirth.  A  very  long  interval  elapses  before  the 
personality  with  which  we  are  associated  in  any 
given  life  has  accomplished  its  mergence  in  the  Ego. 
I  have  dealt  to  some  extent  with  that  subject  on 
former  occasions,  but  it  requires  continued  attention. 
Remember  that,  first  of  all,  we  have  a  considerably 
protracted  experience,  which  maj'-  extend  to  enormous 
length  sometimes — of  life  in  which  the  personality 
is  maintained  in  full  completeness  on  the  higher  levels 
of  the  astral  plane.  In  a  large  number  of  cases  people 
whose  personalities  have  been  highly  evolved,  and 
who  represented  great  intellectual  development  in  this 
life,  elect  to  remain  on  the  higher  levels  of  the  astral 
plane  for  long  after  the  time  when  they  might  have 
passed  on  to  Manasic  conditions,  had  they  so  chosen, 
because  under  those  conditions  it  is  possible  for 
them  to  gather  fresh  knowledge  along  the  line  of  their 
previous  work,  and  prepare  themselves  in  their  next 
incarnation  for  much  more  extended  activities  of  a 
similar  order.  In  a  minor  degree  the  same  explana- 
tion applies  to  people  of  less  advanced  evolution, 
though  we  have  to  remember,  in  trying  to  think 
out  the  conditions  of  future  life,  that  they  vary  to  an 
almost  illimitable  extent.  It  is  difficult  in  attempting 
to  interpret  any  of  these  mysteries  to  make  adequate 
allowance  for  that.  Whereas  highly  intellectual 
people  will  elect  to  remain  for  a  long  time  on  the 
higher  level,  people  of  lesser  advancement  also, 
assuming  that  their  lives  have  not  been  very  bad 
indeed,  will  long  remain  on  levels  where  life  is  ex- 
ceedingly enjoyable,  though  not  necessarily  in  such 
cases  very  conducive  to  further  progress.  But  in  all 
cases  there  comes  a  time  when,  in  fulfilment  of  the 
necessities  of  further  evolution,  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  astral  world  must  pass  on  to  the  Manasic 
condition.     We  must  not  think  of  this  passage  as  in 


222     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

the  nature  of  a  second  death.  It  is  quite  free  from 
all  the  anxieties  and  distrust  that,  too  often,  embitter 
the  approach  of  physical  dissolution,  and  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  utterly  free  from  the  suffering  so  often 
attending  departure  from  this  plane.  During  astral 
life  a  good  many  of  the  attributes  that  contributed  to 
make  up  the  personality  have  faded  away.  Its  higher 
emotions,  its  love  energies,  its  intellectual  capacities 
remain  unimpaired,  but  it  has  already  shed  most  of 
the  minor  attachments  arising  from  its  earthly  life. 
It  is  getting  ready  for  that  union  with  the  Ego  which 
must  not  be  thought  of  as  accomplished  at  once  on 
leaving  this  plane  of  life.  Whatever  desires  may 
have  been  engendered  for  the  continuance  of  personal 
existence,  those  desires  will  operate  to  retain  vivid 
consciousness  of  personality  on  appropriate  levels  of 
nature  for  as  long  as  their  force  can  persist.  But,  as 
I  say,  the  Ego,  the  real  permanent  self,  is  a  more 
permanent  thing  than  any  one  personality,  and,  how- 
ever important  any  given  personality  may  be  com- 
pared with  those  that  have  preceded  it  in  the  long 
career  of  the  Ego  through  nature,  its  importance  has 
to  be  expressed  in  a  new  environment,  to  clear  the 
way  for  which  the  minor  details  of  the  last  incarnation 
have  been  allowed  to  fade  away,  or  evaporate.  But 
the  Ego  and  the  personality  must  not  be  thought  of 
as  two  separate  entities.  The  personality  is,  at  all 
events,  a  partial  expression  of  the  Ego  and,  sooner  or 
later,  the  Earth-plane  consciousness  is  withdrawn  into 
the  Ego,  sometimes  rapidly,  sometimes  after  a  long 
interval,  but  eventually  in  all  cases  that  has  to  be 
accomplished.  And  the  blending  means  the  absorp- 
tion into  the  Ego  of  all  that  was  important  in  the 
personality  that  has  lately  been  spent. 

There  is  another  interesting  thought  connected 
with  that  idea.  Sooner  or  later  a  personality  may 
become  so  important  that  it  is  perpetuated,  so  to 


Theosophical  Teachings  Misunderstood     223 

speak,  and  invests  the  Ego  with  its  own  colouring, 
instead  of  assuming  from  the  Ego  the  colouring  of 
former  accumulated  experiences.  That,  of  course, 
will  only  happen  at  the  threshold  of  a  verj''  exalted 
condition  of  development,  and  it  does  not  apply 
to  the  majority  of  people  at  the  present  stage  of 
our  life. 

I  must  now  go  back  for  a  moment  to  the  misunder- 
standing about  baby  consciousness.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  some  of  you  may  have  read  accounts  of 
strange  experiences  that  have  sometimes  been  known 
in  the  Eastern  world — I  am  thinking  especially  of  some 
cases  in  Tibet — ^where  babies  who  have  been  recog- 
nized as  reincarnations  of  a  former  incarnation 
have  actually  been  able  to  prove  their  identity  by 
pointing  out  hiding  places  in  which  the  former 
personality  had  stowed  away  various  objects,  with  a 
view  to  its  ultimate  identification.  And,  in  some 
cases,  the  actual  baby  form  has  uttered  words 
identifying  itself  with  the  former  incarnation.  That 
need  not  be  thought  of  as  conflicting  with  what  I 
just  now  said.  Whenever  that  has  taken  place — 
and  I  believe  it  has  taken  place;  I  do  not  want  to 
repudiate  the  stories — it  would  represent  a  great  adept 
achievement  from  the  background,  so  that  it  may 
be  set  aside  altogether  as  inapplicable  to  ordinary 
life.  And  almost  equally  inapplicable  to  ordinary  life 
are  the  Cases  in  which  very  young  children,  before 
the  age  of  seven,  have  been  known  to  exhibit  extra- 
ordinary faculties.  I  think  these  have  generally  had 
to  do  with  the  reincarnation  of  great  musicians. 
We  are  all  familiar  with  the  precocity  of  Mozart,  who 
is  said  to  have  begun  playing  the  piano  at  six  years 
of  age.  In  reference  to  these  one  can  only  say  again 
that  they  are  altogether  abnormal.  Merely  guessing 
at  the  previous  conditions  that  might  explain  such 
cases,  I  would  suggest  that  they  represent  an  intense 


224     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

eagerness  on  the  part  of  the  Ego  to  express,  on  the 
physical  plane,  some  of  the  musical  ideas  gathered 
from  experience  on  the  Manasic  level.  We  have 
always  been  led  to  beUeve  that  on  the  Manasic  level 
music  somehow  pervades  the  whole  region,  appealing, 
of  course,  in  very  varying  degrees  to  different  apti- 
tudes, but  filling  the  consciousness  of  the  advanced 
musician  with  musical  ideas  he  would  be  eager  to 
reproduce.  Probably  in  a  similar  way,  when  the 
mathematical  faculty  has  become  the  leading  mental 
characteristic  of  an  Ego,  that  condition  may  equally 
impel  the  Ego  to  seek  an  early  opportunity  for  its 
expression  on  the  physical  plane,  and  may  account 
for  the  "  calculating  boys  "  one  has  sometimes  heard 
of;  though  we  have  in  connection  with  such  cases  to 
explain,  the  best  way  we  can,  the  usual  fact  that  the 
abnormal  faculty  disappears  or  weakens  as  the  boy 
grows  up.  Such  facts  bring  us  into  relation  with  a 
great  volume  of  Nature's  mysteries,  which  show  how, 
at  early  stages  of  evolution,  there  seems  to  be  a  closer 
connection  with  the  spiritual  plane  than  when  fuller 
intellectual  development  has  been  reached.  Babies, 
animals,  and  early  savage  tribes  will  sometimes  give 
evidence  of  possessing  glimmerings,  at  all  events,  of 
astral  perception  which  fade  away  at  later  stages  of 
growth. 

I  come  now  to  consider  various  possibilities  which 
have  to  do  with  the  re-attachment  of  the  Ego  to  a 
bodily  manifestation.  In  the  case  of  Egos  sufficiently 
advanced  along  the  path  of  that  progress  to  which 
knowledge  is  so  conducive,  it  may  be  possible  for 
the  higher  self,  if  I  may  use  that  expression,  or  the 
Ego — I  am  using  the  two  terms  as  almost  synonymous 
— to  exercise  a  definite  choice  in  regard  to  the  new 
incarnation  on  which  it  will  enter.  People  already 
at  some  stage  "  on  the  path,"  especially  if  they  are 
called  upon  to  return  rather  sooner  than  the  ordinary 


Theosophical  Teachings  Misunderstood     225 

law  would  provide  for,  would  probably  have  a  con- 
siderable range  of  choice  in  regard  to  the  incarnation 
they  would  accept.  I  have  been  privileged  to  obtain 
some  information  bearing  upon  cases  that  have 
actually  occurred,  and  a  curious  discovery  emerges. 
In  all  such  cases  of  which  I  have  heard,  where  several 
opportunities  have  lain  before  an  Ego  coming  into 
incarnation — some  apparently  very  much  less  at- 
tractive than  others — ^it  seems  almost  invariably  the 
case  that  the  Ego  chooses  the  least  desirable  incar- 
nation, as  its  desirability  would  be  measured  from 
our  point  of  view.  Incarnations  in  humble  life 
involving  a  great  deal  of  what,  from  our  point  of 
view,  we  should  consider  hardship  and  undesirable 
conditions  have  continually,  within  my  knowledge, 
been  chosen  by  people  of  sufficient  advancement  to 
exercise  a  choice,  in  preference  to  those  representing 
more  agreeable  conditions  of  life  on  this  plane.  From 
the  Ego  point  of  view  nothing  is  of  really  any  im- 
portance compared  with  spiritual  growth  and  pro- 
gress, and  it  may  not  infrequently  happen  that  the 
humbler  incarnation  is,  first  of  all,  calculated  to 
get  rid  of  Karma  that  lies  in  the  background,  while 
it  also  not  infrequently  happens  that  the  humbler 
incarnation  is  distinctly  more  conducive  to  devotion 
to  spiritual  thought  and  effort  than  those  where 
pleasures  and  distractions  of  all  kinds  keep  people's 
thoughts  centred  on  the  life  that  they  are  actually 
leading.  And  again  it  may  happen — though  I  am 
now  about  to  speak  of  a  case  that  is  probably  unique 
— that  some  definite  work  that  a  highly  evolved  Ego 
has  undertaken  can  be  better  carried  out  in  a  humble 
than  in  an  exalted  station  of  life.  Most  students  of 
philosophical  literature  will  be  more  or  less  familiar 
with  the  writings  of  that  wonderful  German  philo- 
sopher Jacob  Boehme.  Now  Jacob  Boehme's 
writings  show  him  to  have  been  on  the  threshold, 

15 


226     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

at  all  events,  of  high  Adeptship,  and  yet  in  that  life 
he  was  a  humble  cobbler,  just  a  subordinate  worker 
at  that  humble  trade.  Why  did  he  choose  such  an 
incarnation  as  that  ? — for  it  is  certain  that  a  Being 
on  his  level  must  have  chosen  his  incarnation.  The 
answer  I  understand  to  be  .that  at  the  period  in 
which  he  lived  it  was  not  desirable  that  the  teachings 
he  had  to  put  forward — ^real  theosophic  teachings, 
though  not  illustrated  with  the  amplitude  of  detail 
we  have  since  been  privileged  to  obtain — should  descend 
upon  the  world  from  any  altitude  of  authority.  Only 
a  few  were  ripe  for  them.  It  was  held  to  be  necessary 
that  they  should  be  suggested,  so  to  speak,  from  a 
humble  level  of  mundane  authorship.  I  am  not 
presuming  to  endorse  or  criticize  that  idea.  I  merely 
state  it  as  given  to  me  in  explanation  of  the  Jacob 
Boehme  incarnation.  "  But  why,"  I  asked,  "  such 
a  very  ignoble  position  as  that  of  a  working  cobbler  ?" 
The  answer,  I  believe  derived  from  himself,  was — 
"  No  position  can  be  ignoble  in  which  you  are  fulfilling 
the  purpose  of  the  Logos."  That  seems  to  me  to  have 
been  an  extremely  beautiful  answer,  radiant  with 
meaning  that  can  be  applied  to  many  of  the  phenomena 
of  life.  True,  there  are  not  many  working  cobblers 
who  are  Jacob  Boehmes  in  disguise,  and  we  must  not 
be  hurried  into  conclusions  to  the  effect  that  it  is 
only  on  such  levels  of  life  that  great  spiritual  natures 
are  to  be  sought  for.  Indeed,  the  normal  rule  is 
rather  the  other  way  about.  There  is  a  tendency 
in  Nature  to  a  gradual  upward  drift  in  social  station 
in  the  long  progress  of  incarnations.  This  ensues 
from  the  way  in  which  desire,  in  ordinary  life,  is  one 
of  the  factors  making  up  the  next  Karmic  programme. 
The  desire  must  be  clear  and  definite  to  be  operative 
in  this  way,  and  it  would  not  amount  to  much  if  a 
costermonger  desired  to  be  a  king.  He  would  not 
know   enough  about    the    king's  Ufe  to  desire  that 


Theosophical  Teachings  Misunderstood     227 

with  precision,  nor  even  if  his  desire  pointed  to  a  less 
exalted  station  could  it  be  definite  enough  to  have 
a  Karmic  value.  But  he  may  fully  realize  the  con- 
ditions of  life  a  little  better  than  those  he  might 
be  used  to,  and  then  the  desire  assumes  creative 
force,  always  supposing  the  man  does  not  engender, 
in  other  directions,  bad  Karma  that  conflicts  with  his 
desire.  But  all  these  last  remarks  obviously  apply 
to  levels  of  life  below  those  inspired  by  genuine  spiritual 
aspiration.  When  this  is  sufficiently  developed  for 
the  Ego  to  feel  it  as  his  predominant  motive,  it  sweeps 
away  all  minor  ambitions. 

So,  as  I  say,  on  the  higher  levels  choice  enters  into 
this  matter.  When  it  does  not  enter — ^which  is  the 
case  with  the  vast  majority  of  our  fellow-creatures — 
the  guidance  is  accomplished  again  in  various  ways. 
For  those  sufficiently  advanced,  but  not  on  the  path, 
there  are  Divine  beings  in  the  higher  order  of  the 
great  adept  hierarchy  whose  function  it  is  to  direct 
incarnations  and  actually  guide  each  Ego,  with  a 
perception  of  its  spiritual  needs,  into  the  incarnation 
suitable  for  its  further  expression.  On  a  lower  level 
again,  if  we  go  back  to  the  conditions  of  savage  life,  or 
even  to  the  conditions  of  very  humble  life  in  civilized 
countries — well,  the  truth  is,  as  I  have  definitely  been 
told,  for  a  great  many  Egos,  that  anyone  of  fifty 
incarnations  would  do  equally  well,  and  therefore  there 
is  no  specific  individual  guidance  in  such  cases.  You 
will  always  remember  that  the  human  race  is  a  vast 
procession  proceeding  through  the  ages,  the  members 
of  which  represent  very  different  conditions  of  growth 
and  progress,  very  different  claims  upon  the  authority 
which  rules  the  whole.  Let  us  consider  the  course 
of  events  in  the  case  of  an  ordinary  Ego  representing 
civilized  development,  a  certain  amount  of  progress 
along  the  lines  of  evolution  and  intelligence,  and  so 
forth,  but  no  abnormal  spiritual  growth.     Such  an 


228     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

Ego  will  be  drafted  into  an  appropriate  incarnation 
under  pressure  of  forces  of  which  it  has  no  practical 
consciousness,  and  for  a  long  time  will  be  unconscious 
of  having  re-entered  this  plane  of  life  at  all.  There 
is  a  link  established  between  itself  and  the  new  life — 
we  do  not  know  what  terms  to  use,  physical  plane 
nature  does  not  enable  us  to  handle  phrases  which 
suit  these  conditions — but  some  mysterious  magnetic 
thread  or  tie  attaches  the  Ego  to  the  new  birth,  and 
for  a  long  time  it  is  quite  unconscious  of  any  such 
attachment — unconscious  probably  for  at  least  seven 
years.  The  first  seven  years  of  a  child's  life  do  not 
represent  intelligent  consciousness  within  that 
organism.  Perhaps  that  statement  will  shock  en- 
thusiastic mothers  who  believe  that  from  a  very 
early  age  they  detect  all  sorts  of  charming  attributes 
in  their  offspring.  They  may,  but  I  do  maintain 
from  what  I  have  been  told  that  as  far  as  the  real 
Ego  consciousness  is  concerned  it  is  not  really  active 
within  the  child  until  at  least  seven  years  have  been 
spent,  and  then  only  to  a  very  limited  degree.  Then, 
no  doubt,  the  Ego  will  be  conscious  of  its  re-attachment 
to  the  physical  plane,  but  not  conscious  to  any 
extent  which  is  a  serious  impediment  to  its  spiritual 
consciousness  on  higher  planes.  It  will  not  be  until 
another  septenary  period  has  been  passed — for  these 
septenary  periods  have  a  very  definite  significance  in 
connection  with  the  growth  of  new  lives — ^it  is  not 
until  another  stage  of  distinct  progress  has  been 
accompHshed  that  the  etheric  and  astral  elements 
in  the  new  child's  composition  become  identified 
with  the  Ego  in  the  background.  I  am  not  going  to 
attempt  a  very  minute  explanation  of  the  successive 
stages  through  which  Nature  works  in  bringing  an 
Ego  into  a  new  incarnation,  but  the  two  septenary 
periods  that  I  have  mentioned  are  by  no  means  all 
that  are  recognizable  as  stages  in  the  process.     The 


Theosophical  Teachings  Misunderstood     229 

real  truth  I  believe  to  be  that  it  is  not  until  full 
maturity  is  reached,  not  till  such  an  age  as  twenty- 
eight,  or  even  a  later  period  than  that,  that  the  highest 
elements  in  the  Ego  are  capable  of  functioning  in  the 
new  organism.  I  believe,  even  as  far  as  the  period  of 
thirty-five,  it  may  sometimes  be  said  that  the  new;  in- 
carnation is  not  absolutely  in  its  completely  perfected 
condition.  So  that  no  conception  of  this  subject  can 
be  more  wide  of  the  truth  than  that  which  embarrasses 
the  idea  of  reincarnation  with  the  belief  that,  in  the 
earlier  stages,  the  experience  is  distressing  to  the 
entity  coming  back. 

One  or  two  other  thoughts  still  remain  to  be  em- 
phasized in  connection  with  this  process  of  rein- 
carnation. A  great  deal  was  said  in  earlier  writings 
on  the  subject  of  Devachan,  and  later  interpretations 
have  modified  without  contradicting  what  was  said 
in  the  beginning.  There  are  numerous  cases  in  which 
Devachan  is  little  more  than  a  blissful  idleness  in  which 
the  personality  that  has  passed  from  this  life  into  the 
Devachan  state,  exists  in  a  perfectly  happy  condition 
for  as  long  a  period  as  the  energies  created  or  brought 
into  activity  during  the  past  life  are  capable  of  mani- 
festing themselves  on  a  higher  plane.  In  all  such 
cases  the  mergence  into  the  Ego  is  effected  uncon- 
sciously. All  such  processes  are  guided  by  higher 
intelligence  outside  that  of  the  Ego  itself,  and  it  would 
only  be  in  a  very  advanced  condition  indeed  that  the 
Ego  would  be  perfectly  conscious  of  what  it  was  doing 
as  it  gradually  absorbed  into  itself  the  experiences  of 
the  last  life.  You  have  always  to  remember  that  on 
the  highest  conditions  that  men  are  capable  of  reaching 
we  take  our  destinies  into  our  own  hands;  on  inter- 
mediate conditions  they  are  guided  for  us  by  beings 
of  a  high  order  in  the  hierarchy  supervising  human 
affairs,  and  on  much  lower  levels,  what  we  may 
call  the  common  levels  of  nature,  operating  in  a  vast 


230     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

area,  they  are  guided  for  us  by  beings  of  a  lower 
order  in  the  spiritual  hierarchy. 

A  good  deal  was  said  in  the  beginning  of  our  studies 
in  reference  to  the  periods  which  usually  elapse  between 
incarnations.  In;my  own  first  book  on  the  subject,  those 
who  have  read  it  may  remember  that  I  spoke — under 
guidance  of  course — of  the  intervening  period  which 
applied  to  the  average  of  mankind,  as  running  from 
1,500  to  2,000  years,  during  which,  of  course,  life  was 
divided  between  astral  conditions  and  Devachanic  or 
Manasic  conditions.  Only  after  this  very  ample 
scope  had  been  given  for  the  exhaustion  of  all  the 
forces  of  the  previous  life  did  the  entity  come  back 
into  incarnation.  There  was  nothing  untrue  in  that 
statement  at  the  time,  but  a  very  remarkable  con- 
dition of  things  has  arisen  since  that  statement  was 
put  forward.  We  live  in  a  very  remarkable  period, 
remarkable  not  merely  for  its  extraordinary  develop- 
ment of  theosophical  knowledge  amongst  us  in  the 
world  at  large,  but  in  other  ways  as  well,  and  amongst 
other  features  that  are  remarkable  in  this  period  is 
the  extraordinary  acceleration  of  all  processes  which 
have  to  do  with  human  evolution.  I  think  we  have 
many  of  us  noticed  this  acceleration  as  applied  to  the 
phenomena  of  life  around  us,  even  in  reference  to  the 
changes  that  have  been  going  on  on  the  physical  plane. 
Looking  back  over  the  past  fifty  years  we  see  that 
immense  progress  has  been  made  in  science,  in  dis- 
covery, in  moral  development,  in  religious  thought 
all  over  the  world;  and  that  acceleration  has  been 
going  on  with  even  greater  rapidity  and  energy  on 
the  higher  planes  of  nature.  It  has  to  do,  of  course, 
with  the  difference  between  the  downward  and  the 
upward  arcs  of  evolution.  On  the  downward  arc  of 
evolution — the  great  preparatory  process  of  nature — 
progress  is  slow;  on  the. upper  arc  of  the  cycle  it  is 
quick,  and  we  are  beginning  now,  having  turned  the 


Theosophical  Teachings  Misunderstood     231 

corner  as  regards  this  world  period,  to  feel  the  accelera- 
ting influence  of  the  upward  arc  of  evolution;  and 
the  accelerating  influence,  I  am  told,  has  definitely 
operated  within  the  last  thirty  years,  to  accelerate  the 
return  to  incarnation  of  such  people  as  we  are  talking 
about  when  we  speak  of  civilized  communities.  I 
leave  out  of  afccount  those  who  are  on  the  Path;  a 
condition  that  probably  applies  to  a  good  many  of  my 
readers,  whether  they  are  fully  aware  of  it  or  not,  most 
likely  to  a  majority  of  those  who  take  a  real,  deep  and 
serious  interest  in  theosophical  teaching.  They  come 
under  the  operation  of  a  new  law  altogether,  and 
their  incarnation  may  be  accelerated  far  beyond 
any  such  periods  as  we  have  been  talking  about. 
But  dealing  with  the  general  run  of  civilized  mankind, 
the  acceleration  is  producing  this  effect:  for  a  con- 
siderable number  of  advanced  Egos  in  the  civilized 
world,  a  period  of  only  about  three  hundred  years  is 
now  going  to  be  an  average  period  for  the  intervening 
time  between  two  lives.  For  a  larger  number  repre- 
senting, of  course,  a  somewhat  less  evolved  condition 
of  either  spiritual  or  intellectual  growth,  a  seven 
hundred  year  period  is  going  to  be  the  average, 
and  for  probably  a  still  larger  number  representing 
normal  conditions  of  ordinary  life  a  thousand  year 
period  is  going  to  be  the  average  instead  of  that 
fifteen  hundred  year  period  which  prevailed  during 
the  earlier  part  of  the  last  century. 

We  all  heard  a  great  deal  at  the  beginning  of 
theosophical  work  of  the  wonderful  drift  of  knowledge 
from  the  Eastern  world  to  the  West.  Ex  oriente  lux 
is  the  most  familiar  maxim  connected  with  theo- 
sophical study  and  one  which  represents  a  profound 
truth.  But  as  so  many  other  things  have  changed 
in  the  process  of  time,  a  change  is  coming  over  the 
whole  condition  of  what  may  roughly  be  called  the 
occult  world  in  incarnation.     By  that  I  mean  the 


232     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

whole  body  of  people  who  are  moving  in  the  direction 
of  higher  knowledge,  who  are  gradually  coming  in  con- 
siderable numbers  on  to  what  we  call  the  path  leading 
to  the  higher  life,  who  are  coming  to  appreciate  the 
openings  of  knowledge  that  have  been  available  for  us 
in  recent  years.  In  former  times  such  people  were 
more  numerous  in  the  Eastern  than  in  the  Western 
world;  and  the  consequence  used  to  be  that  incar- 
nations drifted,  in  the  case  of  people  with  distinct 
spiritual  aspiration,  from  the  Western  world  to  the 
Eastern.  Indeed,  when  our  theosophical  teaching 
began  to  excite  interest  here,  I  know  that  some  of 
my  own  friends  aspired  to  Eastern  incarnations 
as  probably  conducive  to  more  rapid  spiritual  growth 
than  could  be  accomplished  in  any  other  way. 
That  idea  I  think  was  an  erroneous  aspiration  so  far 
as  it  applied  to  any  people -within  our  own  lifetime, 
though  not  erroneous  in  times  long  gone  by.  But  now 
it  is  distinctly  out  of  date.  The  drift  of  incarnation 
for  those  who  represent  exalted  conditions  of  pre- 
paredness for  higher  things,  is  now  rather  from  the 
East  to  the  West.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that, 
although  we  are  so  far  only  concerned  with  begin- 
nings, the  Western  world  is  going,  in  by  no  means 
a  remote  future,  to  be  the  great  radial  centre  from 
which  spiritual  influence  will  spread  over  the  civilized 
world;  and  therefore,  as  I  say,  at  the  present  time 
such  an  aspiration  as  that  which  I  referred  to  a  while 
ago  as  operative  with  some  of  my  earlier  friends  in 
connection  with  theosophical  study,  the  desire  for 
Eastern  incarnations,  is  wholly  out  of  date.  What 
we  have  to  do  now  is  to  recognize  the  duties  that  are 
gradually  coming  to  be  incumbent  on  the  Western 
world  in  connection  with  the  spiritual  progress  of 
mankind. 

Looking  back  to  the  beginning  of  civilization,  to  the 
Atlantean  period,  when  there  was  not  any  Europe 


Theosophical  Teachings  Misunderstood     233 

to  talk  about  at  all,  all  the  development,  such  as  it  was, 
both  spiritual  and  intellectual,  was  centred  in  the 
Atlantean  world.  Of  course  the  Atlantean  population 
gradually  spread  over  the  whole  of  the  habitable 
globe,  and  all  that  we  now  speak  of  as  the  Eastern 
world  was,  please  to  remember,  once  Atlantean. 
Earlier  sub-races  of  the  Atlantean  period  accounted 
for  the  earliest  populations,  whether  of  India,  of  any 
part  of  Central  Asia,  or  of  any  part  of  the  Eastern 
world,  and  as  the  spiritual  civilization  of  Atlantis 
became  defiled  by  the  growth  of  evil  in  the  shape  of 
what  we  commonly  call  black  tendencies,  so  the  best 
representatives  of  advanced  Atlantean  spirituality 
migrated  eastward,  and  in  that  way  established  in  the 
Eastern  world  the  great  radiating  centre  of  spiritual 
energy  in  days  gone  by.  And  that  condition  of  things 
lasted  for  a  very  long  while.  Of  course  at  a  period 
which  again  is  a  very  long  while  ago  from  our  point 
of  view,  two  or  three  hundred  thousand  years  ago, 
when  Atlantean  adepts  migrating  from  Atlantis 
proper  to  escape  the  evil  developments  of  its  civiliza- 
tion, established  themselves  in  Egypt,  they  met 
another  stream  of  spiritual  civilization  flowing  west- 
ward from  India  and  regions  beyond  India  that  had 
been  engendered,  so  to  speak,  by  the  fermentation 
of  loftier  thought  in  the  earlier  races  of  the  Atlantean 
period.  Thus  when  Atlantis  ultimately  disappeared 
and  was  destroyed  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  it  had 
become  so  utterly  degraded,  you  have  to  think  of  the 
Eastern  world  as  wholly  representative  of  spiritual 
growth.  But  we  also  have  to  recognize  as  an  absolute 
fact  that  in  the  progress  of  sub-racial  development 
later  sub-races  than  any  of  those  which  now  occupy 
the  Eastern  world  have  been  developed  and  evolved 
in  what  is  now  the  Western  world.  So  now  the  great 
wave  of  spirituality  is  sweeping  back  again  towards 
the  West.     Ex  oriente  lux  !     From  the  East  the  light 


234     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

is  coming.  But  the  very  use  of  that  phrase  indicates 
that  it  is  moving  westward .  Some  Western  Americans 
are  fond  of  a  boastful  expression :  "  Westward  the  Star 
of  Empires  takes  its  way."  I  am  not  concerned  for 
the  moment  with  the  Star  of  Empire — but  westward 
the  great  forces  of  spiritual  energy  and  development 
are  distinctly  moving.  And  we  have  to  be  worthy,  as 
it  were,  of  that  condition  of  things ;  we  have  to  rise 
to  meet  it. 

If  we  properly  appreciate  our  functions,  they  are 
much  more  dignified  than  at  the  first  glance  people 
believe.  The  Theosophical  Society  is  charged  with 
the  great  task  of  leading  spiritual  progress  in  the 
Western  world.  The  Society  is  a  nucleus  which  in 
future  generations,  at  no  very  distant  period,  will  be 
enormously  expanded  beyond  its  present  conditions, 
expanded  let  us  trust  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  those 
who  are  now  concerned  with  it  will  appreciate  the 
duties  incumbent  on  them,  and  act  in  a  manner  which 
may  pave  the  way  for  that  further  development  which 
undoubtedly  is  contemplated  by  Higher  Powers  as 
the  programme  of  the  future.  That  can  be  carried 
out  if  we  can  respond  adequately  to  the  influence 
that  they  are  radiating. 

That  is  the  most  important  thought  that  I  have  to 
deal  with  just  now,  but  there  are  one  or  two  other 
minor  matters  having  to  do  with  misconceptions  or 
misunderstandings  of  theosophical  teaching,  which 
seem  trivial  and  almost  trumpery  compared  with 
those  which  I  have  been  talking  about,  but  which 
none  the  less  claim  notice.  I  am  referring  to  views 
which  are  sometimes  put  forward,  connecting  aspira- 
tions for  spiritual  growth  and  progress  with  questions 
relating  to  what  we  eat  and  drink  or  refrain  from 
eating  and  drinking.  Now  this  is  a  very  delicate 
subject  which  has  been  a  good  deal  discussed  by 
theosophical  writers  lately,  and  in  reference  to  which 


Theosophical  Teachings  Misunderstood     235 

I  am  very  anxious  not  to  be  misunderstood  myself 
by  theosophical  friends.  No  one  can  entertain  a  more 
definitely  appreciative  admiration  for  what  may 
roughly  be  called  superior  or  cleaner  modes  of  life,  as 
compared  with  those  of  the  multitude,  than  I  myself; 
but  I  do  venture  to  say — and  I  say  it  on  authority  that 
I  respect — that  however  beautiful  in  its  conception 
purer  diet  may  be,  that  "  perfect  way  in  diet  "  that 
Mrs.  Kingsford  so  admirably  wrote  about  many  years 
ago  has  nothing  to  do  with  spiritual  progress.  That  is 
all  that  I  am  driving  at.  Do  not  let  people  who, 
whether  for  reasons  of  health,  convenience,  family 
environment,  or  for  any  other  reasons  worthy  of 
consideration,  find  it  difficult  to  adopt  the  rules  of  the 
perfect  way  in  diet — do  not  let  them  suppose  that  in 
any  way  they  are  prejudicing  their  spiritual  growth 
by  disregarding  them.  That  is  all  I  am  emphasizing. 
The  all-important  consideration  in  regard  to  physical 
hfe — I  am  not  speaking  now  of  the  moral  attributes 
that  should  guide  our  conduct  in  life — our  all-im- 
portant duty  in  regard  to  the  physical  instrument  with 
which  we  have  to  work  when  we  are  trying  to  do  the 
right  thing  in  this  life,  is  that  we  should  keep  it  in 
health.  And  at  the  present  time,  when  most  of  our 
bodies — not  our  Egos,  but  most  of  our  bodies — may  have 
come  down  through  a  line  of  heredity  familiarized  with 
the  old-fashioned  diet,  it  does  not  always  happen  that 
the  present  representatives  of  that  line  can  be  healthy 
on  an  entirely  new  regime.  That  is  the  important 
point  to  remember.  Your  duty,  so  to  speak,  to  the 
body  is  to  keep  it  in  health,  and  you  must  determine 
for  yourself  what  particular  course  of  life  in  regard  to 
this  matter  of  eating  and  drinking  is  best  calculated 
to  have  that  eifect.  I  have  made  efforts  to  get  in- 
formation on  this  subject  from  exalted  teachers.  I 
think  I  have  succeeded,  and  of  course  what  I  have 
been  saying  to  you  is  the  outcome  of  such  success. 


236     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

Going  more  into  detail,  it  may  be  recognized  that  in 
a  certain  very  limited  sense  it  is  true  that  what,  for 
want  of  a  better  term,  we  call  "  magnetism  "  of  a 
bad  order  does  attach  to  meat  as  a  food.  It  has  a 
very  slight  influence,  and  I  am  told  that  those  who  look 
on  from  a  higher  plane  at  the  efforts  of  some  vegetarian 
thinkers  to  follow  the  perfect  way  in  diet,  are  rather 
amused  to  see  that  they  ignore  this  question  of 
magnetism  as  between  various  kinds  of  vegetable 
food.  If  there  is  any  point  in  the  idea  that  certain 
foods  have  a  bad  magnetism,  then  certain  kinds  of 
vegetable  foods  have  a  bad  magnetism  to  just  the  same 
extent  as  meat,  and  in  neither  case  does  that  matter 
seriously.  The  same  thing  applies  to  alcohol  with 
slightly  greater  emphasis.  And  again  the  question 
is  whether  physical  heredity  is  of  such  an  order  as  to 
render  any  particular  body  incapable  of  maintaining 
health  and  efficiency  for  whatever  work  it  has  to  do, 
without  some  little  of  that  otherwise  undesirable 
beverage. 

One  other  theory  claims  notice  in  this  connection — 
that  which  relates  to  the  habit  of  smoking.  Let 
nobody  be  under  the  impression — if  they  are  inclined 
to  attach  any  importance  to  the  information  I  have 
been  privileged  to  obtain — that  there  is  any  harm 
in  that  practice  in  regard  to  the  conditions  it  en- 
genders in  the  physical  body,  in  reference  to  health,  to 
spiritual  or  moral  progress,  or  to  any  of  the  loftier  duties 
of  life.  It  is  perfectly  harmless;  it  has  no  bad 
effect  on  astral  or  etheric  conditions — ^in  moderation 
of  course.  We  always  assume  that  we  are  talking 
to  people  who  are  not  going  to  extremes  in  the  pursuit 
of  any  pleasures  of  a  physical  order.  But  within 
reasonable  limits  that  particular  practice,  I  am  told, 
has  rather  a  beneficial  effect  than  otherwise  on  the 
etheric  conditions  of  people  who  live  in  modem  com- 
munities, full  of  astral  swirls  of  all  kinds  and  of  a 


Theosophical  Teachings  Misunderstood     237 

complicated  order.  There  remains  only  one  other 
remark  to  make  on  this  subject,  that  of  course  in 
reference  to  smoking,  however  agreeable  and  in- 
nocent it  may  be  in  itself,  nobody  who  is  thinking 
along  the  lines  that  are  probably  operative  with  theo- 
sophical students  would  dream  of  doing  anything 
of  that  kind  in  a  manner  which  would  be  disagreeable 
to  others.  That  is  just  the  clue  to  the  correct  under- 
standing of  this  matter.  It  hinges  on  to  very  much 
loftier  principles,  because  the  idea  that  we  should  do 
nothing  for  our  own  sake  which  is  injurious  to  the 
comfort  or  welfare  of  other  people  is  a  crude  way  of 
putting  the  fundamental  conception  which  has  to  do 
with  spiritual  progress  in  all  its  aspects.  We  are  not 
segregated  atoms  in  consciousness,  living  only  for  our 
individual  selves ;  we  are  simply  parts  of  a  stupendous 
design,  the  identity  of  ourselves  with  which  at  some 
future  period  we  shall  fully  realize,  as  we  may  now 
even  intellectually  appreciate  it.  That  idea  can 
never  be  misunderstood,  because  of  its  utter  sim- 
plicity. Simple  on  this  plane,  it  is  equally  simple  and 
equally  true  on  planes  above,  and  is  the  one  idea 
which,  if  it  thoroughly  saturates  our  understanding, 
and  becomes  the  guide  of  life  and  action,  will  render 
people  theosophists  in  the  truest  acceptation  of  the 
term. 


THE  SUPER-PHYSICAL  LAWS  OF  NATURE 

To  speak  of  the  change  which  has  come  over  the 
pubUc  mind,  or  that  portion  of  the  pubUc  mind 
which  represents  the  advanced  culture  of  the  period, 
as  a  movement  of  thought,  is,  in  truth,  to  use  an 
inadequate  expression,  for  that  movement  is  largely 
due  to  an  inflow  of  new  knowledge  and  information 
concerning  the  super-physical  mysteries  of  nature, 
which  were  not  at  the  disposal  of  those  who,  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  represented  the  incredulity 
which  then  prevailed  in  reference  to  all  matters 
having  to  do  with  mystic  research.  Those  of  us 
whose  memories  stretch  back  to  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  will  remember  how  determined  and  con- 
temptuous that  incredulity  generally  was.  To  attain 
any  knowledge  concerning  super-physical  states  of 
human  consciousness  was  held  to  be  eternally  im- 
possible. Sporadic  phenomena,  reported  from  time 
to  time  as  indicating  that  it  might  be  possible  to  obtain 
communication  with  the  surviving  consciousness  of 
people  who  had  departed  this  life,  were  treated  as 
though  of  necessity  they  represented  imposture 
and  fraud.  Stories  of  clairvoyance,  and  records  of 
curious  results  obtained  by  mesmerism,  fortune- 
telling,  in  all  its  curious  varieties,  whether  concerned 
with  cards,  palmistry,  or  astrology,  and  all  the  con- 
fused traditions  of  medieval  magic,  were  lumped  up 
together  as  representing  ignorant  superstition.  The 
Science  of  the  period,  dealing  exclusively  with  the 
phenomena  of  matter — with  theories  that  could  be 
substantiated     by     physical     experiment — was     en- 

238   ■ 


The  Super-Physical  Laws  of  Nature     239 

throned  in  public  esteem,  not  merely,  as  it  deserved, 
by  reason  of  representing  a  magnificent  development 
of  human  intelligence,  but  as  expressive  of  finality 
in  regard  to  human  knowledge;  not  finality  along 
the  lines  of  its  own  activity,  but  finality  as  regards 
the  character  of  such  knowledge,  held  to  be  necessarily 
limited  by  the  resources  of  physical  sense.  Philosophy 
even,  vaguely  conscious  of  something  beyond  the 
characteristics  of  matter,  did  not  hesitate  to  describe 
whatever  lay  beyond  the  reach  of  physical  research  as 
"  unknowable,"  and  those  who  ventured  to  attempt 
the  exploration  of  the  unseen  or  intangible  mysteries 
of  Nature,  did  so  at  the  expense  of  being  treated  with 
contempt  by  the  orthodox  opinion  of  their  time. 

But  without  stopping  to  trace  the  steps  by  which 
the  great  change  has  been  brought  about,  what  is 
the  actual  state  of  things  which  we  have  now  to 
recognize  as  distinguishing  the  thought  of  our  own 
period  ?  To  begin  with,  those  who  feel  themselves 
in  possession  of  certain  knowledge  to  the  effect  that 
it  is  possible  to  communicate  with  those  who  have 
passed  on  to  other  states  of  existence,  are  to  be 
counted  by  millions  both  in  Europe  and  America. 
Their  conviction  does  not  imply  that  it  is  always 
possible  to  command  such  communication  in  in- 
dividual cases.  The  laws  relating  to  all  such  methods 
are,  as  yet,  but  imperfectly  understood ;  but  the  broad 
certainty  that,  under  some  circumstances,  such 
communication  is  possible,  is  enough  to  establish  the 
main  principle  that  human  consciousness  survives  the 
change  called  death,  and  it  is  impossible  to  overrate 
the  value  of  the  widespread  conviction  to  that  effect 
permeating  our  civilization,  in  which  the  progress  of 
physical  science  was  tending  in  the  opposite  direction, 
while  the  influence  of  religious  teaching  was  in- 
sufficient to  counteract  that  tendency.  Concurrently 
with  the  growth  of  confidence  in  the  main  idearepre- 


240     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

sented  by  spiritualism,  the  various  manifestations  of 
Nature's  finer  forces  operative  amongst  those  still  in 
physical  life  have  been  steadily  securing  attention. 
Psychic   research   became,    by   degrees,   not   merely 
emancipated   from   the   intolerance   it  formerly   en- 
countered, but  has  been  gradually  established  amongst 
us  as  almost  a  fashionable  pursuit.     Mesmerism,  so 
fiercely  flouted  in  the  beginning,  became  recognized, 
in  some  of  its  aspects,  at  all  events,  as  a  curative  agent 
in  some  conditions  of  disease,  and  though  ill-under- 
stood as  yet  by  those  who  only  know  it  under  the 
modern  and  misleading  designation  "  hypnotism,"  is 
actually   recognized   as   a   system   of  treatment    by 
many  orthodox  practitioners.     And,  sharing  in  the 
growing  changes  of  opinion,  the  fascination  of  fortune- 
teUing  in  all  its  varieties  has  proved  only  too  attractive 
to  many  enthusiasts  of  our  generation.     Finally  we 
have  to  recognize  that  in  the  scientific  world  itself, 
a  few,  at  all  events,  of  those  most  distinguished  in 
research,  and  many  indeed  beside  those  who  have  had 
the   courage   to    acknowledge   their   conviction,   are 
conscious    already   that   they   are   standing   on   the 
threshold  of  a  new  scientific  dispensation,  in  which 
super-physical  laws  and  super-physical  faculties  must 
be  made  available  by  those  whose  destiny  it  may  be  to 
expound    the    natural    philosophy    of    the    future. 
Problems  connected  with  the  ether,  the  electron,  and 
unseen  emanations  from  the  Sun,  credited  with  the 
production  of  those   curious   phenomena   known   as 
magnetic  storms,  are  all  of  them  imperatively  in  need 
of  illumination  of  a  kind  that  can  only  be  derived  from 
super-physical  investigation.     The  present  situation 
is  full  of  promise  for  developments,  at  no  distant 
future,  which  will  involve  in  the  embrace  of  recognized 
science  the  resources  and  achievements  of  occultism. 
That  is  the  change  that  has  taken  place  within  the 
last  five  and  twenty  or  thirty  years.     Beyond  the 


The  Super-Physical  Laws  of  Nature     241 

influence  of  spiritualism,  to  which  I  have  already 
referred,  what  are  the  other  influences  which  have 
brought  it  about  ? 

I  am  not  eager  to  claim  credit  in  any  exclusive 
degree  or  to  any  predominant  extent  for  the  literature 
which,  within  the  period  to  which  I  refer,  has  been 
devoted  to  the  exposition  of  that  teaching  generally 
known  as  Theosophy,  but  it  would  be  affectation  to 
suppose  that  the  change  has  not  been  attributable,  in 
some  measure,  to  the  wide  diffusion  of  that  clearly- 
defined,  coherent,  scientific  interpretation  of  a  vast 
body  of  natural  law  relating  to  human  evolution  which 
the  literature  of  Theosophy  has  put  at  the  disposal  of 
the  cultured  world  since  that  system  of  teaching  was 
first  formulated  in  approximate  detail.  Whether  it 
has  been  the  cause  or  the  effect  of  the  great  change  in 
modern  thought  which  I  have  been  endeavouring  to 
trace,  no  one  who  has  adequately  studied  theosophical 
teaching  will  deny  that  for  the  first  time  in  the  overt 
history  of  human  enlightenment  it  presents  us  with  a 
complete  theory  of  life;  reaching  back  to  its  begin- 
nings, reaching  forward  to  its  possibilities,  and  inci- 
dentally foreshadowing  the  ultimate  synthesis  into  a 
complete  science  of  super-physical  nature,  of  all  the 
miscellaneous  phenomena  with  which  psychic  re- 
search is  concerned.  Spiritualism  established  the 
reality  of  a  future  life,  but  aimed,  I  venture  to  think, 
as  regards  its  original  inspiration,  at  nothing  more. 
Occult  research,  independently  of  spiritualism,  has 
established  the  fact  that  human  consciousness,  still 
expressed  in  incarnation,  has  resources  at  its  disposal 
far  transcending  in  their  significance  the  senses  of  the 
physical  body.  Theosophy,  accepting  and  interpreting 
these  conclusions,  has  illuminated,  for  our  benefit,  the 
whole  scheme  of  human  evolution,  the  laws  governing 
spiritual  progress,  the  possibilities  awaiting  mankind 
in  a  remote  future,  the  continuity  of  life  in  successive 

16 


242     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

manifestations  on  this  physical  plane  of  existence,  and 
the  growth  of  the  soul,  under  the  influence  of  the 
experience  which  those  successive  manifestations 
afford.  No  hurried  phrases  of  this  nature  can  ade- 
quately convey  to  minds,  as  yet  unfamiliar  with  the 
literature  of  Theosophy,  a  complete  comprehension  of 
its  sublime  significance.  But  in  truth  the  teaching 
itself,  when  properly  understood,  enables  us  to  realize 
that  everyone  who  aspires  sooner  or  later  to  realize  the 
pptentialities  of  human  progress,  must  absorb  that 
teaching  into  his  consciousness  as  a  necessary  prepara- 
tion for  the  efforts  he  will  be  called  upon  to  make,  in 
connection  with  his  ulterior  development. 

This  statement  may  seem  extravagant,  but  will  be 
readily  appreciated  by  those  who  have  studied,  with 
any  degree  of  earnestness,  the  fundamental  principles 
of  human  evolution  rendered  apparent  by  the  teaching 
of  the  Higher  Occultism.  Ignoring  detail,  we  are  able 
to  perceive  the  whole  scheme  of  human  evolution  as 
divided  into  two  mighty  halves,  during  the  first  of 
which  the  forces  of  Nature  carry  forward  the  human 
Ego  to  a  stage  of  development  fairly  represented  by 
the  average  culture  of  our  own  time.  But  the  subtle 
forces  generated  by  the  Ego  itself  are  essential  to 
ulterior  progress  during  the  second  great  half  of  the 
evolutionary  period,  and  these  cannot  be  brought  into 
activity  without  a  clear  comprehension  of  the  design 
they  are  intended  to  subserve.  To  the  half-way 
period  of  the  whole  journey.  Nature  brings  us  without 
claiming  any  help  from  ourselves;  the  next  half  of 
the  journey  can  only  be  accomplished  by  the  union 
of  our  own  enlightened  will  with  the  forces  which 
Nature  will  still  contribute  to  assist  us  in  our  upward 
growth. 

The  phrase  I  have  employed  as  the  title  of  this 
essay  may  not  at  once  be  intelligible,  but  if  I  had 
not  shrunk  from  expanding  it  to  inconvenient  length, 


The  Super-Physical  Laws  of  Nature     243 

I  should  have  rendered  it  more  unintelligible  still  by 
empIo5dng  the  words  used  with  a  double  signification, 
proposing  to  deal,  not  merely  with  the  super-physical 
aspect  of  natural  forces,  but  also  with  the  natural 
aspect  of  super-physical  forces.  The  inversion  of  the 
phrase  may  not  at  once  convey  a  specific  meaning, 
but  I  venture  to  think  that  before  I  have  done  its 
significance  will  be  clearly  appreciated,  and  in  order 
that  what  I  have  to  say  may  be  at  once  intelligible 
in  its  bearing  on  the  main  idea,  let  me  explain  very 
concisely  at  the  oustet  the  conclusions  I  shall  en- 
deavour to  reach. 

I  want  to  show,  first  of  all,  that  the  forces  with 
which  we  are  all  familiar,  in  their  relationship  with 
matter,  the  laws  of  Nature  as  they  are  commonly 
called,  can  only  be  correctly  understood  if  we  think  of 
them  as  the  expression  of  Divine  Will  consciously 
operating  to  produce  the  effects  we  observe,  and, 
secondly,  that  while  the  effects  we  observe,  in  con- 
nection with  the  consequences  of  action — with  all  that 
has  to  do  with  our  appreciation  of  right  and  wrong, 
good  and  evil,  and  moral  principle — can  readily 
enough  be  associated  with  the  idea  of  Divine  Will, 
embodying  sanction  or  disapproval,  they  are  none 
the  less  to  be  recognized  as  a  vast  department  of 
natural  law,  which,  though  dealing  with  resources 
of  a  super-physical  nature  beyond  the  reach  of  ex- 
perimental research,  constitute  none  the  less  a  depart- 
ment of  natural  law  as  uniform  and  definite  as  those 
which  have  to  do  with  the  behaviour  of  matter. 

We  find  ourselves  in  this  world,  under  conditions 
which  enable  us  to  recognize  it  as  an  arena  of  spiritual 
evolution;  but  it, is  even  more  obviously  an  arena  of 
a  complicated  system  of  law  relating  to  physical 
matter,  and  in  reference  to  this  great  body  of  law  we 
may  even  extend  our  observation  beyond  the  limits 
within  which,  as  a  rule,  I  think  it  wise  to  confine  our 


244     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

attention.     In  presence  of  attempts  sometimes  made 
to  interpret  or  speculate  concerning  the  origin  and 
Divine  government  of  the  whole  universe,  I  have  often 
ventured  to  suggest  that  it  is  unwise  to  do  more  than 
endeavour  to  comprehend  the  origin  and  purpose  of 
our  own  Solar  System.     At  the  best,  in  reference  to 
that,  we  can  never  hope  to   do  more  than  obtain 
fragmentary  conceptions,  and  dimly  to  picture  in  the 
mind  the  story  of  its  origin  and  the  theory  of  its  final 
perfection.     But  in  reference  to  physical  law  we  are 
enabled  to  perceive  that  the  code  which  is  manifestly 
operative  in  the  Solar  System  is  certainly,  to  some 
extent — possibly  in   its   entirety — applicable   to   the 
innumerable    systems    distributed    through    the    in- 
finitudes of  space.     It  is  certain,  for  example,  that  the 
fundamental  law  of  gravitation,  governing  all  masses 
of  matter  within  our  view,  is  also  operative  in  distant 
systems  of  a  wholly  different  order  where  a  dual  or 
multiple  system  of  Suns  can  be  distinctly  observed  as 
obedient  to  the  law  which  governs  the  motion  of  our 
own  planets  in  their  orbits.     And  beyond  this  the 
resources  of  spectroscopic  observation  enable  us  to 
identify,  in  distant  Suns,  some  of  the  varieties  under 
which  matter  manifests  itself  to  us  in  our  laboratories, 
and   to   speculate,   not  unreasonably,  on   the  prob- 
ability  that    the    so-called   chemical   elements   with 
which  we  are  acquainted  here  are  also  the  materials 
of  which  distant  Solar  Systems  are  constructed,  and 
which,  most  probably,  are  obedient  in  such  systems 
to  the  same  laws  of  chemical  affinity  that  we  are 
enabled   to   investigate  in   handling   those   elements 
on  earth.     The  value  of  this  observation  has  to  do, 
of  course,  with  the  manner  in  which  it  tends  to  suggest 
an    otherwise    unrecognizable    unity   in    the    whole 
cosmos,  even  if  it  is  hardly  profitable  for  us  to  pursue 
that  idea  much  farther.     But  whether  we  think  of  the 
natural  laws  affecting  matter  in  their  cosmic  or  in  their 


The  Super-Physical  Laws  of  Nature     245 

more  limited  aspect,  we  cannot  but  be  equally  driven 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  Divine  Power,  which  builds 
up  definite  worlds  and  systems,  impresses  on  the 
complex  organisms  thus  created  the  characteristics 
they  exhibit  when  the  creation  is  accomplished. 

Along  the  lines  of  ordinary  astronomical  specula- 
tion, as  also  by  the  light  of  esoteric  teaching,  we 
are  enabled  to  formulate  a  broad  conception  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  worlds  of  a  system  like  our  own 
are  built  up  by  the  aggregation  in  the  first  instance 
of  relatively  homogeneous  matter  available  through- 
out space.  Astronomy  deals  with  the  development 
of  Suns  and  planets,  from  nebulae;  occult  teaching 
follows  along  somewhat  the  same  path,  though  going 
back  a  little  earlier  in  the  story,  and  recognizing  the 
formation  of  the  nebulae  as  the  result  of  Divine  Will 
operating  on  the  infinite  expanse  of  etheric  substance. 
But  whether  we  imagine  that  by  virtue  of  laws  per- 
vading the  Universe,  etheric  matter  when  aggregated 
into  physical  molecules  is  inherently  invested  with  the 
power  of  endowing  those  molecules  with  the  attri- 
butes we  recognize  in  the  chemical  elements,  or 
whether  we  imagine  a  Will  which,  by  the  first  hypo- 
thesis, emanates  from  some  cosmic  influence,  to  be 
reproduced  by  the  will  of  the  Divine  Power  to  which 
our  system  is  directly  due,  the  same  conclusion 
emerges  from  either  hypothesis.  The  attributes 
of  matter,  constituting  in  their  entirety  that  which 
we  describe  as  the  laws  of  Nature,  are  the  expression 
of  Divine  Will,  either  consciously  operating  through- 
out the  Universe  directly,  or  indirectly  passed  on 
through  the  will  of  the  Divine  Beings  to  whom  the 
existence  of  each  Solar  System  is  due.  And  apart 
from  the  general  force  of  reasonable  speculation  along 
these  lines,  I  have  been  incidentally  assured  that 
clairvoyant  observation  of  a  high  order  will  confirm 
this  conclusion  in  a  curious  and  interesting  waJ^ 


246     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

To  render  this  suggestion  intelligible  we  must  re- 
member, of  course,  that  wherever  we  speak  of  Divine 
Will  operating  in  regions  of  Nature  within  our  own 
purview,  we  have  to  understand  that  it  operates 
through  a  vast  hierarchy  of  subordinate  agency .  Such 
agency  has,  of  course,  to  be  recognized  as  associated 
with  varieties  of  spiritual  evolution  quite  independent 
of  the  human  kingdom ;  and  in  deahng  with  these,  we 
are,  of  course,  moving  through  a  region  of  thought 
in  which  manifestation  is  obscure,  and  observation 
extremely  difficult.  But  none  the  less,  I  have  known 
it  to  be  asserted  by  qualified  observers  whom  I  have 
been  disposed  to  trust,  that  where  important  re- 
searches, connected  with  some  of  the  great  laws  of 
Nature,  have  been  in  progress,  beings  of  some  super- 
human order  have  actually  been  present,  watching 
or  perhaps  guiding  the  progress  of  human  enlighten- 
ment in  connection  with  the  departments  of  Nature 
it  is  their  duty  to  preside  over.  If  this  be  actually 
the  case,  it  serves  to  emphasize  the  main  idea  with 
which  I  am  at  present  concerned,  the  direct  bearing  of 
conscious  will  on  the  laws  of  matter,  which,  at  cruder 
stages  of  human  thought,  the  science  of  the  period 
.contrived  to  regard  as  compatible  with  an  atheistic 
contempt  for  all  conceptions  relating  to  a  Divine 
origin.  That  worship  of  matter  per  se  which  charac- 
terized a  certain  variety  of  scientific  thought,  in  the 
last  century,  is  no  less  ludicrously  discredited  by  the 
illuminated  intelligence  represented  by  the  Higher 
Occultism,  than  the  equally  crude  conception  of 
primitive  theology  which,  while  certainly  recognizing 
Divine  Power  as  a  factor  in  the  Universe,  assumed 
t  to  be  operative  in  a  way  which  we  now  perceive 
to  be  as  little  in  harmony  with  the  truth  of  things  as 
the  grosser  materialistic  belief.  The  notion  that  the 
Divine  Being  does  no  more  than  pronounce  a  word, 
in  order   that   natural  phenomena  shall  be   evoked, 


The  Super-Physical  Laws  of  Nature     247 

fully  armed,  ex  nihilo,  is  hardly  less  absurd,  hardly 
less  derogatory  to  the  nature  of  Divinity  than  the 
opposite  belief  that  matter  existed  from  the  eternity 
of  the  past,  and  can,  by  its  own  combinations,  give 
rise  to  human  consciousness. 

Even  our  comprehension  of  the  natural  machinery 
by  means  of  which  physical  effects  are  produced  may 
serve,  for  instance,  to  put  a  new  complexion  on  the 
meaning  of  the  familiar  expression,  "  Let  there  be 
light."  That  the  sensation  in  human  consciousness  of 
light  is  an  expression  of  Divine  Will,  is  emphatically 
one  of  the  ideas  I  am  eager  to  emphasize,  but  we  know 
that  the  result  is  produced  by  the  complicated 
mechanism  of  etheric  vibration,  and  that  Divinity  had 
a  more  complicated  task  to  perform,  in  providing  for 
the  sensation  of  light,  than  would  have  been  evolved 
in  the  simple  utterance  of  a  decree.  The  behaviour 
of  the  ether,  in  conveying  vibrations  from  distant 
sources  of  light,  to  the  planets  requiring  illumination, 
is  complicated  to  that  degree  that  our  investigations, 
as  yet,  have  but  vaguely  hinted  at  some  of  its  com- 
plexities; but  the  illustration  serves  to  suggest  the 
way  in  which  the  results  aimed  at  in  creation  are 
obtained  by  what,  relatively  to  early  theological 
belief,  must  be  regarded  as  elaborate  and  laborious 
methods;  methods,  almost  certainly,  associated  with 
a  stupendous  hierarchy  of  subordinate  agencies  re- 
flecting the  Divine  Will  at  every  stage  of  the  process. 

But  so  far  I  have  been  dealing  only  with  half  the 
idea  I  want  to  convey;  that  which  is,  in  a  certain 
sense,  the  least  important  half,  because  it  involves 
ideas  which,  independently  of  occult  research,  will 
probably  be  found  floating  in  the  thought  of  the  period, 
though  perhaps,  in  most  cases,  more  vaguely  than 
when  clarified  by  a  broad  and  comprehensive  appre- 
ciation of  the  world's  evolution,  as  a  whole.  The 
expansion  of  the  idea  into  the  region  of  intangible 


248     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

cause  and  effect,  is  certainly  not  yet  familiar  to 
ordinary  psychological  speculation.  But,  to  begin 
with,  all  of  us  who  have  been  appreciative  of  Theo- 
sophical  teaching  on  the  comprehensive  scale,  will  be 
familiar  with  the  idea  that  what  is  known  as  the  law 
of  Karma,  is  a  law  operative  on  the  moral  plane,  as 
definitely  as  the  law  of  gravitation  controls  the  region 
of  physical  manifestation.  But  that  law  is  generally 
thought  of  as  a  vague  expression  of  Divine  Will; 
and  even  with  such  opportunity  as  may  be  furnished 
by  familiarity,  in  some  cases,  with  the  evolution  of 
specific  Egos  through  a  long  series  of  lives,  though  it 
is  exceeding  difficult  to  recognize  it  as  working  with 
the  regularity  so  plainly  observable  when  we  are 
dealing  with  the  laws  of  physical  Nature,  neverthe- 
less, we  do  broadly  recognize  the  idea  that  conduct 
in  life  of  a  specific  order  is  productive  of  definite 
consequences,  following  an  inevitable  rule,  and  not 
subject  in  each  case  to  specific  judgments  resembling 
those  of  a  human  autocrat.  None  the  less,  however, 
when  we  think  of  Karma,  good  or  bad,  as  operative  to 
produce  agreeable  or  painful  conditions  in  the  life  or 
lives  following  any  action  in  question,  it  is  difficult 
to  get  out  of  the  habit  of  thinking  that  the  Ego 
concerned  has  somehow  been  the  subject  of  a  judg- 
ment. The  physical  laws  of  Nature  seem  so  funda- 
mentally welded  with  matter  that  it  is  only  with 
a  mental  effort  we  can  comprehend  them  as  in  truth 
the  expression  of  a  conscious  will  emanating  from,  or 
reflected  from,  conscious  will  on  some  level  of  Divine 
existence.  On  the  other  hand,  the  moral  aspects  of 
conduct,  the  rightness  or  wrongness  of  specific  action, 
suggest  instinctively  the  idea  that  their  conformity,  or 
non-conformity,  with  the  intentions  of  God,  is  the  ex- 
planation of  their  rightness  or  their  wrongness.  In 
this  case  a  mental  effort  is  required  to  establish  the 
conception  that  that  Divine  Will  is  so  marvellously 


The  Super-Physical  Laws  of  Nature     249 

penetrating  and  precise  in  its  operation  that  it  cannot 
any  longer  be  thought  of  as  due,  so  to  speak,  to 
capricious  spasms  of  admiration  or  disapproval,  but  is 
as  uniform  in  its  operation  as  the  law  of  gravitation — • 
as  complex  in  its  character  as  the  laws  of  chemical 
affinity.  It  is  Law,  enacted  once  for  all  and  applicable 
to  all  conceivable  varieties  of  circumstances. 

The  conception  with  which  we  are  thus  inevitably 
faced  by  a  profound  study  of  the  whole  subject,  is 
that  the  whole  scheme  of  morals,  in  the  broadest 
acceptation  of  that  term,  is  governed  by  a  body  of 
law  as  comprehensive  as  the  law  of  gravitation,  as 
detailed  as  those  which  are  studied  in  chemical 
laboratories,  where  the  will  of  God,  in  reference  to 
matter,  is  investigated  by  experiment  and  even 
guided,  by  the  free  will  of  man,  towards  purposes  we 
may  desire  to  subserve.  And  just  as  the  physical 
law  is  operative,  not  merely  with  great  masses  of 
matter,  but  with  microscopic  morsels,  or  even  with 
ultra-microscopic  particles,  so  the  moral  law  can 
penetrate  the  smallest  crevices  of  our  moral  nature, 
dealing  as  appropriately  with  the  pettiest  short- 
comings, with  the  feeblest  aspirations  upward,  as 
with  the  grandest  achievements  of  philanthropy  or 
the  foulest  varieties  of  crime. 

It  must  be  allowed  that  we  cannot  easily  escape 
from  old  habits  of  thought,  nor  give  up  the  trick  of 
thinking  of  any  peculiar  faculty  we  may  possess  as 
a  gift  of  Nature,  of  any  suffering  we  may  be  called 
upon  to  endure  as  a  chastisement  inflicted  by  a 
Divine  Master  for  our  good.  We  retain,  in  many 
cases,  even  the  habit  of  regarding  "our  daily  bread  " 
as  something  which  is  given  to  us  "  this  day,"  and 
for  which  it  is  decent,  on  .our  part,  to  return  thanks, 
as  we  sit  down  to  table.  Such  habits  of  thought  are 
pretty  and  harmless  in  their  place,  for  people  who 
do  not  care  to  penetrate,  with  open  eyes,  into  the 


250     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

mysteries  of  life,  who  are  content  with  the  simplicities 
of  a  reverent  attitude  and  unconsciously  content  to 
wait  till  a  later  opportunity  for  realizing  that  nothing 
can  excite  a  more  profoundly  reverential  attitude  of 
mind  than  a  clear  vision,  reaching  in,  or  up,  to  the 
actual  truth  of  things.  But  the  Occult  student  need 
not  be  the  slave  of  any  tradition,  however  useful  it  may 
have  been  in  its  time,  and  if  the  idea  I  am  endeavour- 
ing to  suggest  is  rightly  apprehended,  it  can  never 
present  itself  to  any  mind  as  at  war  with  the  rever- 
ential spirit.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  calculated  to 
enhance  our  reverence  for  the  Divine  Power  above, 
when  we  realize  that  the  wisdom  that  guides  its 
exercise  is  sufficiently  profound,  extensive,  and  pene- 
trating to  formulate  laws  which  deal  with  all  the 
varieties  of  moral  condition  to  which  the  free  will  of 
mankind,  an  essential  factor  in  spiritual  evolution, 
can  possibly  give  rise. 

Nor  when  the  almost  infinite  resources  of  free  will 
within  the  domain  of  law  are  recognized,  will  the 
recognition  of  an  all-pervading  system  of  moral  law 
be,  in  any  way,  confusion  to  the  mind.  At  the  present 
stage  of  average  human  development,  that  element  of 
free  will  within  human  nature  is  hardly  illuminated 
with  sufficient  knowledge  to  render  it  capable,  so  to 
speak,  of  steering  a  chosen  path  through  the  com- 
plexities of  the  law.  But  the  law,  itself,  provides 
compensation  for  the  embarrassments  of  ignorance 
while  ignorance  prevails,  at  the  same  time  that  it  pro- 
vides opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  free  will,  when 
at  a  later  stage  more  enlightened  knowledge  shall 
guide  its  exercise.  Nor  even  need  we  cast  aside  the 
early  anthropomorphic  conception  of  Divinity  which 
appealed  to  the  saintship  of  a  more  primitive  age,  and 
responded  to  the  spiritual  thirst  of  humanity  for  a 
Divine  object  of  worship,  sufficiently  like  ourselves  to 
excite  adoration  and  love.     We  who  are,  at  present, 


The  Super- Physical  Laws  of  Nature     251 

concerned  with  the  attempt  to  comprehend  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Higher  Occultism,  may  be  embarrassed,  for 
a  time,  by  finding  it  impossible  to  retain  anthropo- 
morphic conceptions  of  Divinity  while,  as  yet,  our 
knowledge  is  insufficient  to  picture  in  imagination 
the  Divinity  which,  in  some  mysterious  fashion,  is  at 
once,  as  it  were,  the  fountain  of  the  love  principle 
and  the  destination  of  that  principle  as  it  works 
in  our  own  nature.  To  suppose  that  the  Higher 
Occultism,  because  it  puts  aside  some  of  the  crude 
fancies  of  humanity's  childhood,  embodies  a  hard, 
cold,  or  unsympathetic  conception  of  Divine  rule,  is 
to  misunderstand  its  whole  significance  more  de- 
plorably almost  than  this  unfortunate  result  can  be 
accomplished  by  any  other  misunderstanding.  The 
essence  of  many  religious  conceptions  may  still  be 
retained  in  our  thought,  even  when  their  ecclesiastical 
presentation  is  put  from  us  as  out  of  date,  and  the 
complete  grasp  of  the  ideas  I  have  been  endeavouring, 
in  the  course  of  this  essay,  to  suggest — thoughts  so 
subtle  that  their  clear  presentation  is  a  matter  of  ex- 
treme difficulty — will,  for  example,  help  to  emphasize, 
rather  than  to  discredit,  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
phrases  that  can  be  borrowed  from  the  literature  of 
early  religion.  For  our  free  will,  with  the  help  of 
improved  enlightenment,  may  enable  us,  in  con- 
formity with  the  reign  of  law  on  the  moral  plane, 
to  vindicate  the  profound  truth  that  free  will,  itself,  » 
is  an  element  of  Divinity  within  our  own  nature,  a 
power  which  may  render  us,  each  in  our  turn,  capable, 
in  a  certain  sense,  of  rising  above  all  law,  constrained 
though  we  may  be,  by  relative  insignificance,  to  obey 
it  for  a  time.  I  do  not  mean  that  any  free  will  of  man 
can  countervail  any  detail  of  the  moral  law  pervading 
the  system  to  which  we  belong;  but  just  as  a  clear 
comprehension  of  physical  law  enables  us  to  work  out 
results  on  the  physical  plane,  of  which  we  may  be 


252     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

definitely  regarded  as  the  authors,  so  the  ultimate 
comprehension  of  the  loftier  law  will  enable  us,  if  that 
figure  of  speech  be  permissible,  to  ascend  to  regions 
of  existence  in  which  we  shall  transcend  its  operation, 
vindicating  the  old  familiar  phrase,  in  my  mind  a 
moment  ago,  that  in  Divinity  itself — ^not  merely  in 
the  sphere  of  manifestation  on  which  our  potentialities 
may  be  developed — "  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being." 


THE  HIGHER  OCCULTISM 

The  instruction  given  in  ancient  Greece  to  those 
who  took  part  in  the  meetings  at  Eleusis — celebrated 
in  history  as  the  Eleusinian  Mysteries — ^related,  as 
we  have  abundant  reason  to  beheve,  to  super-physical 
knowledge  concerning  the  higher  planes  of  Nature, 
of  the  kind  that  has  been  freely  promulgated  amongst 
us  in  recent  years.  Such  knowledge  is  that  with  which 
we  are  engaged  in  our  study  of  the  Higher  Occultism. 
The  eager  pursuit  of  super-physical  knowledge  has 
been  a  leading  characteristic  of  civilized  intelligence 
for  the  last  fifty  years,  within  which  time  multitudes 
have  come  to  know  that  communication  between  this 
plane  of  life  and  that  to  which  humanity  passes  after 
the  death  of  the  body  is  possible.  But  the  great 
movement — having  a  wider  scope  than  that  which, 
important  as  its  influence  has  been,  is  narrowed  to 
the  consideration  of  experiences  immediately  following 
the  physical  life — the  study  of  the  Higher  Occultism 
with  which  we  are  now  concerned,  originated  with 
the  Theosophical  Society,  the  branches  of  which 
spread  now  over  the  whole  world.  This  Society 
was,  at  all  events  as  regards  this  country,  the 
channel  through  which  recent  enlightenment  has  been 
poured,  and  thus  it  becomes  necessary  to  glance  back 
over  the  history  of  the  current  movement  in  order  to 
appreciate  the  importance  of  the  work  it  has  been 
privileged  to  accomplish,  as  also  in  order  to  appreciate 
the  dignity  of  the  task  which  lies  before  it.  And 
to  do  this  effectually  it  is  necessary  to  look  back  even 
farther  than  to  those  earlier  beginnings  of  modern 

253 


254     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

civilization  when  the  knowledge  that  we  have  been 
enabled  to  handle  so  freely  was  already  in  the  pos- 
session of  a  few,  but  guarded  for  these  few,  in  accord- 
ance with  what  was  then  held  to  be  an  imperative 
necessity,  by  secrecy  of  the  most  rigid  order. 

At  a  period  long  anterior  to  the  establishment  of 
the  Eleusinian  Mysteries,  similar  teaching  was 
undoubtedly  conveyed  to  students  of  Occultism 
attached  to  Egyptian  temples,  and  what  we  know 
now  enables  us  to  realize  that  there  never  has  been  a 
time  in  the  history  of  mankind  during  which  the 
evolving  race  was  left  entirely  without  guidance  from 
those  by  whom  the  great  laws  governing  the  whole 
evolution  were  correctly  understood.  In  the  child- 
hood of  the  race,  indeed,  as  we  are  now  in  a  position 
to  apprehend  so  clearly,  such  knowledge  was  only 
possessed  by  representatives  of  a  more  advanced 
evolution,  trusted,  under  Divine  Providence,  with  the 
regulation  of  the  whole  undertaking — with  the  nurture 
and  education  of  the  new  race  of  which  they  were  in 
charge.  But  gradually,  as  the  more  advanced  repre- 
sentatives of  this  race  attained  something  resembling 
maturity  of  intelligence,  a  few  amongst  them,  qualified 
by  exceptionally  rapid  advancement,  were  privileged 
to  share  in  the  wisdom  of  their  preceptors.  In  this 
way,  without  having  any  detailed  knowledge  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  progress  was  accomplished, 
we  can  appreciate,  without  the  least  shadow  of  un- 
certainty, the  way  in  which  the  initiated  adepts  of  our 
own  human  family  first  became  organized  as  a  distinct 
association,  qualified  by  degrees  to  assume  the  re- 
sponsibilities originally  belonging  to  the  representa- 
tives of  the  superior  race  whose  contact  with  humanity 
is  dimly  suggested  in  history  by  vague  traditions  of 
Divine  Kings.  But  for  many  millenniums  the  Adepts 
of  our  humanity  held  it  to  be  premature  to  share  their 
wisdom    with    the    indiscriminate    multitude.    The 


The  Higher  Occultism  255 

Occult  student  is  enabled  to  appreciate  the  con- 
siderations which  induced  them  to  maintain  this 
reserve.  All  knowledge  in  varying  degrees,  according 
to  its  importance,  is  associated  with  varying  degrees 
of  moral  responsibility.  Putting  the  idea  in  language 
with  which  most  of  us  are  now  familiar,  the  Karma 
of  action,  distinctly  at  variance  with  the  loftier 
purposes  of  spiritual  evolution,  becomes  terribly  em- 
phasized when  such  action  is  realized  by  the  agent 
as  in  conflict  with  the  Divine  purpose.  This  idea  is 
susceptible  of  elaborate  expansion,  but  in  its  simplest 
form  is  the  vindication  of  that  policy  of  secrecy  as 
applied  to  super-physical  knowledge  which  some  of  us 
familiar  with  the  publicity  rightly  attached  to  the 
progress  of  discovery  in  physical  science,  are  some- 
times disposed  to  resent.  Dealing,  however,  for  the 
moment  merely  with  the  course  of  events,  we  have  to 
recognize  that  all  information  accessible  to  human 
research  connected  with  those  higher  planes  of  Nature, 
concerning  which  we  are  now  able  to  speak  so  freely, 
was  as  a  matter  of  fact  guarded  from  public  dissemina- 
tion by  the  vows  which,  until  very  recently,  precluded 
an  initiate  from  disclosing  the  secrets  of  initiation. 

But  we  are  now  enabled  to  realize  that  knowledge 
formerly  included  amongst  the  secrets  of  initiation  is 
knowledge  of  a  kind  which,  sooner  or  later,  every 
human  being  must  possess  as  a  condition  providing  for 
his  progress  along  the  path  of  evolution  marked  out 
for  him  by  the  great  design.  To  appreciate  the 
true  importance  of  that  Higher  Occultism  with  the 
study  of  which  we  are  now  concerned,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  full  significance  of  the  idea  I  have  just  en- 
deavoured to  express  should  be  grasped  by  everyone 
who  takes  part  in  such  work  as  that  we  have  now  in 
hand.  Earlier  impressions  with  reference  to  the 
teaching  conferred  on  students  of  Occultism  in  former 
ages,  are  generally  to  the  effect  that  such  teaching 


256     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

must  have  been  intensely  interesting,  that  it  invested 
the  possessor  with  powers  of  a  kind  unfamiliar  to 
ordinary  hfe,  that  it  was  something  so  desirable  in 
itself  that  no  personal  sacrifices  were  allowed  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  those  who  aspired  to  it,  that  no  perils 
daunted  them,  that  no  temptations  of  a  worldly  nature 
could  turn  them  aside  from  its  pursuit.  All  such  con- 
ceptions were  perfectly  sound  as  far  as  they  went, 
but  they  failed  entirely  to  interpret  the  great  pri- 
mary motive  that  inspired  those  who  pursued  occult 
knowledge  with  a  correct  appreciation  of  all  that  its 
acquisition  signified.  It  is  true  that  the  Adept  and, 
in  a  lesser  degree,  those  who  are  advancing  along  the 
path  leading  to  adeptship,  acquire  knowledge  of 
transcendent  interest,  and  powers  the  dignity  of 
which  cannot  easily  be  exaggerated.  But  these 
rewards  are  not  those  which  the  enlightened  aspirant 
for  adeptship  is  seeking  in  his  long  and  laborious 
efforts  to  make  progress  in  that  direction.  That 
which  he  soon  learns  to  realize,  if  morally  capable 
of  continuous  advance  along  the  path  he  has  chosen, 
is  suggested  by  the  simple  truth  that  the  path  leading 
to  adeptship  is  the  condensed  epitome  of  the  whole 
design  which  Divine  Wisdom  has  sketched  out  on 
an  enormous  scale  for  the  ultimate  progress  of  all 
humanity.  The  supreme  achievements  of  adeptship 
establish  those  who  attain  it  on  the  moral,  intel- 
lectual, and  spiritual  level  which  .represents  the 
culmination  of  all  that  is  possible  for  the  human  race 
as  such.  Occult  Science  is  so  concatenated  altogether 
in  its  vast  entirety,  that  these  great  truths  can  only  be 
fully  grasped  by  those  who  have  completely  assimi- 
lated the  teaching  now  available  for  all  of  us  who  care 
to  profit  by  it,  concerning  the  whole  design  in  which 
the  human  race  is  involved.  But  all  who  have 
profited  effectually  by  the  literature  of  modern 
Occultism  will   be  in  a  position    to  appreciate   the 


The  Higher  Occultism  257 

force  of  what  I  have  just  said,  and  even  those  who  as 
yet  are  merely  approaching  the  great  study,  under 
the  influence  of  that  sympathetic  feeling  for  it  now 
so  widely  diffused,  will  no  doubt  be  able  to  catch  the 
significance  of  the  fundamental  truth  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  express,  and  will  thus  be  ready  to 
perceive  the  manner  in  which  the  study  of  the  con- 
ditions leading  up  towards  adeptship  casts  a  flood 
of  light  upon  the  future  progress  of  the  human  race ; 
while  conversely,  the  study  of  the  teaching  we  have 
been  privileged  to  receive  concerning  the  future 
destinies  of  the  race,  will  invest  progress  towards 
adeptship  with  a  dignity  far  greater  than  that  assigned 
to  it  at  an  earlier  period  of  thought,  by  observers 
who  merely  supposed  that  it  was  aimed  at  for  the 
sake  of  its  knowledge  and  its  power. 

Reverting  now  to  the  course  of  events,  we  have  to 
begin  by  contemplating  the  attitude  of  the  advanced 
occultist  towards  the  world  at  large,  at  a  period 
anterior  to  the  recent  outburst  of  specific  teaching. 
Of  course  it  was  obvious  to  those  already  on  adept 
levels,. at  any  period  of  the  past  to  which  we  may 
look  back,  that  sooner  or  later  the  knowledge  they  so 
jealously  guarded  would  have  to  be  disseminated 
broadcast  throughout  the  world.  But  their  know- 
ledge also  enabled  them  to  perceive  that  the  whole 
stupendous  scheme  of  human  evolution  was  suscept- 
ible of  division  into  two  great  halves.  It  has  been 
the  task  of  modern  interpreters  of  Occultism  to 
describe  the  characteristics  of  these  two  great  phases 
of  evolution  in  considerable  detail,  and  we  know  that 
throughout  the  first  half  of  the  process — frequently 
described  as  the  downward  arc  of  evolution — the 
Divine  purpose  was  gradually  fulfilled  by  the  differen- 
tiation of  the  diffused  spiritual  energy  animating  the 
undertaking,  into  specific  centres  of  consciousness, 
these   constituting,   when   developed,   human    Egos, 

17 


258     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

qualified  to  accumulate  experience  through  a  long 
course  of  successive  incarnations,  and  gradually 
to  arrive,  in  that  way,  at  the  midway  station  of  the 
whole  great  journey,  with  no  other  duty,  so  to  speak, 
up  to  that  time,  than  those  relating  to  their  own 
individualization,  to  their  acquisition  of  strength  and 
capacity  as  separated  entities  each  conscious  of  its 
own  interests.  Looking  back  indeed  to  earlier  races 
of  mankind  anterior  even  to  that  mighty  Atlantean 
race  immediately  preceding  our  own,  we  may  realize, 
almost  with  surprise,  from  our  present  point  of  view, 
that  the  most  sublime  virtue  we  now  are  qualified  to 
admire — and  some  of  us  perhaps,  in  some  degree, 
qualified  to  aspire  to — the  virtue  of  unselfishness,  did 
not  even  dawn  as  a  conception  on  the  human  mind 
in  the  beginning. 

On  the  contrary,  there  was  a  stage,  during  the 
progress  of  humanity  along  the  downward  arc,  when 
selfishness  was  the  law  of  progress — of  such  progress 
as  was  then  desired  in  accordance  with  the  Divine 
purpose.  But  from  the  midway  stage  of  human 
evolution  onwards,  new  conceptions  of  right  and 
wrong  became  possible.  Of  course  the  midway  stage 
was  not  reached  by  the  whole  human  race  simulta- 
neously, but  a  considerable  number  of  millions  may 
have  been  standing  fairly  in  the  front,  by  the  time  the 
Atlantean  race  had  lived  through  half  the  period  of 
the  life  assigned  to  it.  And  from  that  period  onward, 
it  became  theoretically  possible  for  those  members  of 
the  human  family  who  had  most  completely  fulfilled 
the  programme  of  Nature  up  to  that  time  to  appreciate 
the  loftier  purposes  of  the  further  evolution  awaiting 
them  during  the  second  half  of  the  great  evolu- 
tionary process — during  the  upward  arc  leading 
towards  Divine  perfection. 

We  do  not  know  with  precision  how  soon  it  became 
theoretically  possible  for  the  most  advanced  members 


The  Higher  Occultism  259 

of  our  own  family  to  receive,  from  the  superior  teachers 
who  preceded  them,  the  knowledge  which  we  now 
handle  so  freely  and  describe  as  the  Higher  Occultism ; 
but  at  all  events,  during  the  latter  half  of  the  Atlantean 
race  some  members  of  our  own  human  family  were 
enabled  to  appreciate  the  lofty  design  sketched  out  for 
their  advancement,  to  detach  themselves  from  the 
chaotic  throng  of  their  self-seeking  contemporaries, 
and  to  establish  here  and  there,  even  in  that  early 
world,  centres  of  initiation  from  which  their  influence 
began  in  a  faint,  diluted  fashion  to  radiate  through 
the  world,  and  towards  which  those  whose  spon- 
taneous interior  progress  had  invested  them  with 
appropriate  qualifications  were  drawn  into  the  paths 
of  higher  knowledge.  But  millenniums  had  to  accu- 
mulate until  thousands  were  no  longer  adequate  to 
record  the  progress  of  the  years,  before  the  adept 
fraternity  could  contemplate  the  possibility  of  dis- 
seminating the  wisdom  they  possessed  broadcast 
through  the  world.  Some  elevated  moral  principles, 
as  the  progress  of  mankind  along  the  upward  arc 
proceeded,  were  of  a  kind  which  it  was  possible  to 
convey  with  safety  to  the  multitude,  and  that 
possibility  found  its  expression  in  the  foundation  of 
all  the  great  religions  of  the  world  which  have  eman- 
ated, as  we  see  now  without  the  possibility  of  mistake, 
from  the  wisdom  of  early  adeptship.  That  suggestion 
need  not  be  held  at  variance  with  the  belief  which 
assigns  a  Divine  origin  to  some  religions  of  the  kind 
referred  to.  Divine  purposes  are  worked  out  in  all 
cases  through  subordinate  agencies,  and  the  com- 
prehension of  this,  in  many  ways,  is  one  of  the  illumina- 
ting discoveries  that  we  are  enabled  to  reach  through 
the  study  of  Occultism.  But  at  all  events,  those  who 
appreciate  the  spiritual  and  educational  blessings  con- 
ferred on  humanity  by  religion,  may  readily  erect 
on  that  primary  belief  the  further  conception  that  at  a 


26o     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

certain  stage  of  human  progress  specific  knowledge 
of  spiritual  science  may,  without  offending  against  the 
dignity  of  religion,  be  super-added  to  it.  And  what 
we  know  now  is  that  for  some  centuries,  adept  observers 
of  human  growth  in  this  fifth  race  of  ours — the  first 
beyond  the  Atlantean  on  the  upward  arc  of  evolution 
— have  been  on  the  watch  for  indications  which  may 
show  that  an  adequate  number  of  those  left  hitherto 
to  the  simpler  influence  and  guidance  of  religious 
thought,  might  become  qualified  for  the  reception  in 
its  entirety,  or  at  all  events,  in  considerable  measure, 
of  that  spiritual  science  from  which  rehgion,  in  the 
first  instance,  had  its  rise. 

We  can  see  now,  looking  back  loo,  200,  or  even  300 
years,  that  some  experiments  were  made  by  the  adept 
experts  of  this  science,  to  ascertain  whether  amongst 
ordinary  humanity  people  were  ripe  for  higher 
teaching  in  a  sufficient  degree  to  justify  its  public 
dissemination.  To  trace  the  details  of  these  ex- 
periments would  be  a  considerable  task  by  itself, 
which  indeed  some  of  us  have  attempted  to  carry 
out  by  studying  the  life  histories  of  distinguished 
occultists  throughout  the  Middle  Ages.  But  passing 
over  that,  for  the  moment,  we  have  to  recognize 
that  until  our  own  time  such  experiments  were  held 
to  be  unsuccessful,  and  so  we  come  at  last — along 
the  train  of  thought  I  have  been  following — to  an 
intelligent  comprehension  of  the  circumstances  that 
prompted  the  recent  outburst  of  teaching  from  adept 
sources.  That  teaching  embodied  in  the  earliest 
Theosophical  books  was  itself  experimental  in  its 
inception,  but  unhke  previous  attempts  of  a  similar 
character,  was  crowned  with  success.  Sufficient 
numbers  of  people  in  the  modern  world — or  leaving  out 
of  account  whatever  has  been  done  in  the  East,  I  may 
fairly  say  in  this  modern  European  world  of  ours — 
have  shown  themselves  entitled,  by  the  readiness  of 


The  Higher  Occultism  261 

their  appreciation,  to  receive  occult  teaching  in  such 
abundant  volume,  that  we  stand  now  in  a  position,  in 
that  respect,  of  intellectual  advancement,  far  exceeding 
the  corresponding  position  reached  by  those  who,  as  a 
privilege  individually  earned  and  guarded  by  vows 
of  secrecy,  were  taught  something  of  the  Higher 
Occultism  when  the  Mysteries  were  celebrated  at 
Eleusis. 


THE   OBJECTS   OF   THE   THEOSOPHICAL 
SOCIETY 

I. — Theosophical  "Brotherhood" 

From  time  to  time  we  may  usefully  review  the  gradu- 
ally improving  conceptions  we  have  been  enabled  to 
form  concerning  the  grand  purposes  underlying  the 
Theosophical  Movement.  The  phrases  in  which 
these  were  ultimately  crystallized  do  not  (though  this 
matters  little)  reflect  the  ideas  present  to  the  minds 
of  those  who,  in  1875,  did  actually,  in  a  certain  sense, 
"  found  "  the  Society.  At  that  time  it  was  the 
result  of  interest  excited  among  a  small  group  of 
persons  frequenting  Madame  Blavatsky's  rooms  in 
New  York,  by  the  exhibition  of  her  wonderful  Occult 
powers.  As  Colonel  Olcott  explains  in  his  Diary 
Leaves  a  lecture  was  given  in  September,  1875,  at 
Madame  Blavatsky'f  rooms  by  a  certain  Mr.  Felt,  of 
whom  we  lose  sight  afterwards,  on  the  Adept  Magic 
of  Egyptian  priests.  Colonel  Olcott  then  suggested 
the  formation  of  a  Society  to  study  this  subject. 
That  was  done,  and  though  the  title  "  Theosophical  " 
was  adopted  (doubtless  under  occult  guidance), 
Colonel  Olcott  at  one  time  proposed  to  call  it  a 
"  Miracle  Club." 

The  word  "  Brotherhood  "  does  not  creep  into  its 
records  till  some  years  later.  It  was  first  used  by 
Mr.  C.  C.  Massey  and  his  friends  in  London  when  they 
formed  a  British  branch  of  the  New  York  Society. 
They  described  its  purpose  as  being  "  to  discover 
the  nature  and  powers  of  the  human  soul,"  and 
they  went  on  to  declare  that  they  believed  in  "  a 

262 


The  Objects  of  the  Theosophical  Society     263 

great  intelligent  First  Cause  and  in  the  Divine 
sonship  of  the  spirit  of  Man,  and  hence  in  the  immor- 
tality of  that  spirit  and  in  the  universal  Brotherhood 
of  the  human  race."  Colonel  Olcott  took  this  hint 
and  developed  the  idea  in  a  new  statement  of  subjects 
as  follows :  "  (i)  The  study  of  Occult  Science;  (2)  the 
formation  of  a  nucleus  of  universal  brotherhood; 
(3)  the  revival  of  Oriental  literature."  The  word 
"  brotherhood  "  was  afterwards  shifted  into  the  first 
place,  but  it  was  always  accompanied  by  the  qualifying- 
term  "  Nucleus."  It  was  not  used,  and  should  never 
be  used,  by  Theosophists  with  the  significance  attached 
to  it  by  those  concerned  with  mundane  politics  or 
social  reconstruction  on  the  physical  plane.  The  word 
in  its  theosophical  meaning  refers  to  the  Unity  of 
Divine  consciousness  on  lofty  planes  of  Nature, 
and  to  the  nucleus  for  the  reflection  of  that  Unity 
on  the  physical  plane  that  may  be  formed  by 
theosophical  students  who  appreciate  the  teaching 
aright. 

The  gross  democratic  meaning  attached  to  the  term 
"  brotherhood  "  is  an  insult  to  theosophical  teaching. 
The  consciousness  which  expands  into  perfected 
humanity  is,  no  doubt,  in  a  subtle  metaphysical 
sense  identical  in  its  nature  with  the  consciousness, 
not  merely  of  the  humbler  classes  in  civilized  countries, 
but  with  that  also  of  the  crocodile,  the  dog,  the 
Australian  savage,  and  the  Master  of  Wisdom.  But 
this  does  not  mean  that  all  manifested  consciousness 
in  whatever  vehicle  we  find  it  is,  therefore,  invested 
with  equal  claims  on  our  respect.  It  is  invested 
with  equal  claims  on  our  sympathy,  and  that  is  how 
people  who  do  not  appreciate  subtle  distinctions 
drift  into  the  misuse  of  the  term  "  brotherhood."  If 
the  sheep  and  the  guinea-pig  are  included  in  the 
universal  brotherhood,  well  and  good,  but  we  do  not 
ask  the  sheep  and  the  guinea-pig  to  contribute  their 


264     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

opinions  to  discussions  of  the  suffrage  question,  for 
example.  And  that  thought  is  a  clue  to  the  fallacy 
involved  in  regarding  theosophical  brotherhood  as 
leading  to  political  socialism.  Theosophical  teaching 
concerning  human  evolution  shows  us  the  human 
family  at  present  at  very  different  stages  of  develop- 
ment. It  rescues  us  from  the  old-fashioned  blunder 
— arising  from  the  ignorant  delusion  that  each  new 
child  is  a  new  creation — to  the  effect  that  all  have 
equal  rights.  According  to  a  phrase  classical  in 
political  writing,  all  are  equally  entitled  to  "life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  but  with 
very  varied  claims  on  the  privilege  of  shaping 
laws  providing  for  the  fulfilment  of  that  fundamental 
idea. 

Thus,  to  let  the  formula  in  which  the  objects  of 
the  Theosophical  Society  are  generally  expressed  distort 
the  purpose  of  the  movement  to  suit  the  purpose  of 
any  mundane  theory  of  social  reform  is  a  very  grievous 
blunder.  From  the  beginning  all  qualified  exponents 
of  the  Theosophical  Movement  have  warned  us  to  keep 
clear  of  all  political  contamination.  The  Society  may 
include  persons  of  very  varied  political  opinions,  but 
within  the  Society  their  only  duty  is  to  study  and 
promote  the  study  of  the  super-physical  spiritual 
science  gradually  unfolded  for  our  benefit  and  through 
us  for  the  benefit  of  all  mankind.  The  fulfilment  of 
that  duty  should  be  compatible  with  perfect  harmony 
of  feeling  within  the  Society,  where  it  is  needless 
and  undesirable  to  discuss  varied  beliefs  as  to  how 
the  physical  welfare  of  the  community  may  be  best 
promoted.  We  should  not}' furnish  unsympathetic 
critics  of  our  real  work  with  an  excuse  for  pretending 
to  regard  us  as  a  body  of  people  entangled  with 
questionable  schemes  for  subversive  changes  on  the 
physical  plane. 


The  Objects  of  the  Theosophical  Society     265 

2. — ^The  Study  of  Comparative  Religions 

By  those  who  concern  themselves  with  it,  this 
second  "  object  "  is  Hable  to  be  misunderstood.  By 
a  large!"  number  it  is  disregarded.  It  has  a  very 
definite  purpose  really.  Briefly  stated,  that  is,  to 
bring  out  by  such  study  the  fact  that  at  the  basis  of 
all  religions  worth  talking  of  there  are  certain  funda- 
mental ideas,  more  or  less  vaguely  hinted  at,  which 
are  clearly  set  forth  in  Theosophical  teaching.  Theo- 
sophical writers  have  sometimes  too  emphatically 
emphasized  the  idea  that  Theosophy  is  not  a  religion. 
Of  course  it  is  not,  in  the  sense  that  it  has  no  hard 
and  fast  creed  of  the  kind  that  most  religions  adopt. 
But  no  one  who  really  understands  Theosophical 
teaching  is  in  need  of  any  other  religion.  A  real 
comprehension  of  the  Divine  Hierarchy,  and  of  the  laws 
governing  human  evolution,  covers  the  whole  area  of 
thought  and  emotion  which  any  religion  at  its  best 
can  cover  (besides  covering  a  good  deal  more).  Not 
on  that  account  will  any  true  Theosophist  repudiate 
any  religion  with  which  by  race  or  nationality  he  may 
be  traditionally  connected.  Here  we  have  a  very 
pretty  subtlety  to  consider.  If  any  Theosophist 
identified  by  race,  residence,  and  habits  of  thought 
with  this  country  is  asked  the  question,  "Are  you  a 
Christian  ?"  what  should  he  answer  ?  To  say  **  No  " 
(because  in  his  inner  consciousness  he  felt  that  occult 
wisdom  superseded  all  religions  having  a  definite 
name)  would  be  misleading  and  in  bad  taste.  My 
answer  in  such  a  case  would  be,  "  Certainly;  of 
course  I  am."  I  might  go  on  to  explain  that  I  had 
no  sympathy  with  the  caricature  of  Christianity  pro- 
vided for  us  by  most  of  the  European  Churches,  but 
that  would  only  be  possible  if  the  conversation  were 
protracted. 

The  idea  to  enforce  is,  that  any  one  who  takes 


266     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

up  any  particular  religion  and  makes  a  close  study 
of  that,  embellishing  its  crudities  as  far  as  he  can 
by  the  results  of  his  own  thinking,  is  not  doing 
anything  which  resembles  the  fulfilment  of  the  second 
object  of  the  Society.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  pressing 
against  it.  The  more  he  succeeds  in  recommending 
to  respect  and  attention  any  particular  religion  in 
preference  to  others,  the  more  he  is  tending  to  defeat 
the  second  object  of  the  Society,  the  grand  under- 
lying purpose  of  which — veiled  rather  than  fully 
expressed  by  the  formal  enumeration  of  objects — is 
to  convey  to  the  large  numbers  of  people  now  fit  to 
receive  it,  the  magnificent  volume  of  knowledge  con- 
cerning spiritual  truth  hitherto  in  the  exclusive 
possession  of  the  Elder  Brethren  of  humanity. 

This  could  not  have  been  done  at  a  much  earlier 
period.  Clumsy  religions,  brutal  bigotry,  atheism 
(the  result  of  disgust  developed  among  the  most 
intelligent  by  the  stupidity  of  priests  and  clergy), 
all  stood  in  the  way.  But  the  experiment  was  made 
in  these  latter  years,  and  has  been  justified  by  partial 
success.  Multitudes  all  over  the  world  do  appreciate 
the  gift  of  occult  knowledge.  Of  course,  besides  these, 
many  rush  in  without  understanding  the  real  purpose 
of  the  movement,  caught  by  some  phrase  associated 
with  it,  into  which  they  read  their  own  prepossessions. 
They  may  impede  the  progress  of  the  great  work  for  a 
time,  but  there  are  forces  behind  this  that  must 
prevail  in  the  end.  Far  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Society  the  fascination  of  occult  teaching  is  spreading 
through  the  cultured  classes.  To  that  growth  we  must 
look  forward  with  confident  hope,  even  if  we,  or 
some  of  us,  get  a  little  out  of  patience  with  mistaken 
ideas  permeating  the  Society  at  this  early  stage  of  its 
existence.  The  Theosophical  Movement  is  much 
bigger  than  the  Theosophical  Society,  which  must 
undergo  great  purification  if  it  is,  in  future  years, 


The  Objects  of  the  Theosophical  Society     267 

destined  to  lead  the  Theosophical  Movement.  The 
movement  itself  is  pressing  towards  a  period  when 
advanced  thinkers  will  not  be  comparing  medieval 
religions,  but  will  be  comparing  whichever  of  these 
appeals  best  to  their  sympathies,  with  the  grand 
spiritual  truths  conveyed  to  them  by  the  theosophical 
revelation — recasting  their  favourite  religion,  if  they 
cling  to  it  at  all,  in  harmony  with  these  truths.  At 
the  end  there  will  be  many  who  find  in  the  teaching 
which  we  still  call  "  occult  "  all  the  religion  they  need. 
Others  will  prefer  to  decorate  it  with  some  of  the 
phraseology  of  their  earlier  faith.  Thus  ceremonial 
religions  will  survive  by  their  various  names,  and  in  the 
midst  of  all  there  will  be  a  central  block  of  thinkers, 
more  or  less  indifferent  to  ceremonial,  who  will  be 
content  to  call  themselves  "  Theosophists,"  pure  and 
simple.  But  the  same  ideas  will  permeate  all  groups, 
and  great  progress  will  then  have  been  made  in  the 
development  of  that  "  brotherhood  "  the  "  nucleus  " 
of  which  we,  who  understand  our  task,  are  called  upon 
to  "  form  "  at  this  commencement  of  the  stupendous 
religious  construction,  the  beautiful  results  of  which 
those  adequately  gifted  with  foresight  can  discern 
beyond  the  horizon. 

3. — The    Powers   Latent   in    Man 

The  third  object  of  the  Society  is  less  liable  to 
be  misunderstood  than  either  the  first  or  second,  but 
is  perhaps  the  most  important,  and,  like  any  other 
idea  expressed  in  concise  language,  is  open  to  various 
interpretations.  It  is  formally  stated  in  these  terms: 
"  To  investigate  the  unexplained  laws  of  Nature  and 
the  powers  latent  in  Man."  These  words  properly 
understood  may  beheld  to  inaugurate  the  study  of  an 
entirely  new  science.  The  mistake  sometimes  made 
is  to  suppose  that  they  merely  prescribe  an  attempt  to 
cultivate  hitherto  undeveloped  faculties  theoretically 


268     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

latent  in  each  of  us.  That,  in  most  cases,  would  prove 
an  extremely  unsatisfying  or  disappointing  pursuit. 
Most  people  of  this  age  and  race  have  come  into  the 
present  life  without  the  potentiality  of  such  develop- 
ment in  themselves.  As  with  every  other  attribute 
we  possess  the  potentiality  of  psychic  perception  can 
only  exist  as  the  product  of  some  effort  made  in  a 
former  life.  Many  Theosophists  accept  en  bloc  the 
theory  of  Karma,  and  at  once  proceed  to  ignore  it 
when  they  think  of  themselves.  They  are  too  often 
encouraged  to  do  this  by  people  endowed  with  psychic 
faculties  who  find  these  so  natural  and  easily  used 
that  they  cannot  help  thinking  that  anyone  might 
acquire  them  by  working  for  that  end  with  sufficient 
earnestness  of  purpose.  Volumes  (reckoning  such 
writing  in  the  aggregate)  have  been  written  to  assure 
candidates  for  psychic  development  that  if  they  will 
only  "  lead  the  life  " — be  ascetics  in  the  matter  of  food, 
drink,  etc . ,  etc . — they  will  be  able  to  verify  Theosophical 
teaching  for  themselves.  One  might  just  as  well  tell 
a  weak,  undersized  boy  that  by  eating  underdone 
beefsteaks  and  using  the  dumbbells  he  would  make 
himself  able  to  go  into  the  ring  and  beat  a  prize- 
fighter. The  boy's  Karma  has  not  endowed  him 
with  an  athletic  body,  and  he  must  be  content  to  use 
it  for  pursuits  it  is  adapted  to  deal  with. 

Of  course  it  is  true  that  there  are  cases  in  which 
partially  endowed  persons  may  greatly  stimulate 
their  latent  faculties.  It  is  only  a  question  of  their 
Karmic  condition.  There  are  all  degrees  of  this  con- 
dition to  consider.  At  one  end  of  the  scale  we  have 
people  who  are  naturally  psychic  from  childhood 
onwards,  and  who,  if  they  take  pains,  develop  into 
great  clairvoyants  and  seers  in  mature  life.  At  the 
other  end  of  the  scale  we  have  those  who,  however 
gifted  intellectually,  morally,  and  physically,  have  no 
glimmering  of  psychic  faculty  and  could  not  develop 


The  Objects  of  the  Theosophical  Society     269 

that  even  if  they  made  the  struggle  to  do  so  the 
passion  of  a  lifetime  and  ruined  their  health  by 
asceticism,  i  Between  those  two  extremes  there  are 
all  varieties  of  condition,  and  in  some  of  these  appro- 
priate effort  may  give  rise  to  results.  I  will  only 
add^  as  a  personal  conviction,  that  in  no  cases  will 
the  results  ensue  from  fanatical  rules  about  eating 
and  drinking.  The  finest  clairvoyants  and  psychics 
I  have  known — and  I  have  been  privileged  to  know 
a  good  many — are  people  who  laugh  at  all  such  rules 
and  eat  whatever  they  find  by  experience  keeps 
them  in  the  best  health.  I  am  assured  on  high 
authority  that  that  is  the  only  sound  rule  to  work 
with .  Our , bodies  are  the  instruments  we  have  to  make 
use  of  inythis  life,  and  whatever  work  we  have  to  do, 
we  can-^do  it  best  by  keeping  the  instrument  in  good 
order.  It  should  go  without  saying  that  no  one 
worth  talking  about  makes  pleasure  the  test  of 
what  is  best  for  him  to  eat  or  drink. 

But  if  it  is  useless  for  most  people  even  to  think 
of  cultivating  "  latent  "  faculties  in  themselves,  how 
does  the  third  object  affect  them  ?  In  an  extremely 
important  way  !  The  world  at  large  knows  nothing 
of  the  conditions  that  have  been  reached  by  some 
members  of  the  human  family — that  may  be  reached 
eventually  by  all  in  some  future  life — and  the  work 
which  Theosophists  are  privileged  to  carry  on  is  the 
dissemination  of  the  knowledge  on  this  subject 
which  they,  if  they  avail  themselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunities for  study  which  the  Theosophical  Movement 
has  provided,  are  in  a  position  to  promote.  The  laws 
governing  the  gradual  development  of  latent  faculties 
in  the  human  family  to  which  we  belong  constitute 
a  mighty  science.  I  have  said  that  we  cannot  all  make 
ourselves  clairvoyant,  but  we  can  all,  if  we  take 
advantage  of  our  opportunities,  become  proficient 
theoretically  in  that  science;   able  to  help  on  multi- 


1 


270     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

tudes  of  others  so  far  less  privileged  than  ourselves. 
And  that  is  certainly  one  way — I  lean  to  think  it  is 
the  only  way — in  which  people  who  in  the  current 
life  are  beginning  to  be  anxious  about  their  latent 
faculties  can  really  provide  for  their  growth. 

Amphfying  the  above  generalities,  the  first  thing 
the  true  Theosophist  has  got  to  do  is  to  understand 
the  goal  to  be  aimed  at — in  other  words,  the  place 
in  Nature,  the  condition  and  powers  and  functions 
of  those  whom  we  speak  of  now  as  "  Masters  of 
the  White  Lodge."  I  do  not  much  like  the  phrase, 
but  it  will  serve  for  the  moment.  In  the  early  days 
of  the  movement  we  were  all  led  to  say  to  people 
thinking  of  joining  the  Society:  "  It  does  not  matter 
whether  you  believe  in  the  Adept  Brotherhood  or 
not."  And  it  did  not  matter  then.  We  felt  that 
membership  in  the  Society  would  surely  lead  them 
sooner  or  later  to  acquire  this  essential  belief.  If  it 
does  not,  they  might  really  employ  their  energies 
elsewhere  to  better  advantage.  Do  my  readers 
realize,  I  wonder,  how  it  came  to  pass  that  "  Esoteric 
Buddhism  "  sent  a  thrill  through  the  world  on  its 
first  appearance?  That  was  not  merely  or  chiefly 
because  the  sketch  it  gave  of  occult  science  met  an 
intellectual  need,  but  because  it  made  people  think 
of  the  Great  Adepts,  and  that  gave  them  a  chance  of 
driving  home  a  return  current  of  thought.  They 
cannot  begin  such  intercourse.  The  first  appeal  must 
come  from  the  aspiring  human  Ego.  But  once  that 
aspiration  is  kindled,  any  results  may  ensue. 

Now,  of  course,  those  who  profit  by  later  theo- 
sophical  literature  may  learn  much  more  about  the 
Masters  than  they  could  gather  from  the  first  book. 
That,  like  every  other  theosophical  book  I  have  ever 
looked  at,  is  replete  with  imperfection,  for  we  who 
endeavour  to  interpret  the  rudiments  of  occult 
science   are   working   on   the   threshold   of  infinity. 


The  Objects  of  the  Theosophical  Society     271 

But  there  is  much  known  now  that  was  quite  unknown 
to  the  early  leaders  of  the  movement,  about  the 
White  Lodge  and  the  methods  of  approach  to  it,  and 
those  are  the  subjects  and  ideas  people  should  concern 
themselves  with  if  they  desire,  in  an  intelligent  way, 
to  carry  out  our  third  object — to  "  investigate  "  the 
laws  of  Nature  governing  the  development  of  the 
faculties  and  powers  latent  in  Man. 


THE  BORDERLAND  OF  SCIENCE 
ASTRONOMY,    OVERT    AND    OCCULT 

I . — Nebula 

An  intelligent  survey  of  our  present  knowledge 
and  theories  concerning  nebulae  seems  to  have  been 
given  lately  to  an  American  astronomical  society 
by  a  Mr.  Vincent  Francis,  and  I  find  it  reprinted  in 
Popular  Astronomy.  The  paper  is  illustrated  by 
a  fine  photograph  of  the  spiral  nebula  in  Coma 
Berenices,  which  happens  to  show  very  clearly  a 
condition  of  nebular  growth  that  I  have  insisted  upon 
before  now,  and  which  is  entirely  supported  by  the 
writer  I  am  quoting.  You  can  see  in  the  photograph 
how  the  central  sun  is  condensing  first  before  the 
spirals  break  up  into  planets.  The  contrary  view 
was  the  defect  of  the  grand  original  Laplace  discovery. 
Laplace  conceived  the  nebula  to  condense  gradually 
from  the  outside;  rings  being  formed,  the  outermost 
first,  the  central  sun  being  left  to  the  last.  By  degrees 
it  was  perceived  that  this  would  be  a  very  un-nature- 
like  process.  It  was  putting  the  cart  before  the  horse, 
or  the  child  before  the  parent.  Mr.  Francis  more 
properly  talks  of  "  the  parent  sun  "  in  discussing 
nebular  growth. 

This  whole  department  of  astronomy  has  only 
been  evolved  since  the  development  of  the  telescope. 
One  may  almost  say,  since  the  Huggins  discovery 
that  some  nebulae  give  a  purely  gaseous  spectrum, 
making  it  certain  that  they  were  not  star  clusters. 
Since  then  we  have  got  on  rapidly.     It  was  found, 

272 


The  Borderland  of  Science  273 

indeed,  that  some  nebulae,  certainly  not  resolvable 
into  clusters,  gave  continuous  spectra.  Some  con- 
sisted of  glowing  gas  and  some  of  solid  particles. 
Then  it  became  apparent  that  most  probably  all 
nebulae  were  spiral  in  their  shape,  and  we  approached 
the  conception  that  central  suns  were  formed  before 
the  planets.  Then  (again  with  the  help  of  Sir  William 
Huggins)  we  got  at  a  means  of  ascertaining  the  motion 
of  nebulae  in  the  line  of  sight.  It  is  an  old  story  now, 
but  fascinating  as  ever.  The  dark  lines  in  the  spectra 
of  stars  are  sometimes  displaced  a  little  as  compared 
with  those  of  similar  bodies  in  the  laboratory.  If 
they  are  displaced  towards  the  red  end  of  the  spectrum, 
that  means  that  the  star  is  receding  from  us.  If  they 
are  displaced  towards  the  violet  end,  that  means 
that  the  star  is  approaching  us.  The  light  waves  are, 
in  fact,  in  the  one  case  crushed  together,  in  the  other 
drawn  out.  Recent  work  with  this  method  at  the 
Lowell  observatory  has  shown  that  the  great  Andro- 
meda nebula  is  approaching  us  at  the  rate  of  300 
kilometres  per  second,  and  other  nebulae  show  still 
higher  velocities.  But  they  are  so  far  off,  hopelessly 
beyond  the  reach  of  parallax,  almost  too  far  for  guess- 
work, that  some  astronomers  incline  to  think  them 
outside  our  Universe  altogether,  an  unacceptable 
guess  in  my  humble  judgment.  The  great  nebula  in 
Orion  is,  of  course,  the  biggest.  It  covers  a  region  of 
space  not  less  than  one  which  light' would  only  cross 
in  forty  years.  But  we  cannot  suggest  a  maximum 
limit  of  its  magnitude,  because  we  have  no  notion  how 
far  off  it  is.  When  we  call  it  the  nebula  in  Orion,  we 
merely  mean  that  we  can  see  it  if  we  look  in  the 
direction  of  Orion.  How  far  it  may  be  behind  the 
stars  of  that  group  is  wholly  uncertain. 

How  do  we  see  it  ?  Is  it  self-luminous  ?  There 
is  reason  to  assume  that  the  matter  of  which  it  con- 
sists is  rarer  than  the  rarest  vacuum  we  can  create 

18 


274     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

here  by  instrumental  means.  How  can  such  attenu- 
ated matter  emit  light  ?  That  is  one  of  the  puzzles 
we  have  still  to  deal  with  in  connection  with  this 
subject.  But  meanwhile  it  seems  pretty  clear  that 
there  are  some  nebulse  that  do  not  shine,  dark  nebulae 
that  play  some  mysterious  part  in  the  vast  economy 
of  Nature.  The  nebulous  matter  that  almost  sur- 
rounds the  Pleiades  is  assumed  to  be  dark  in  the 
sense  of  not  being  self-luminous,  because  its  spectrum 
is  identical  with  that  of  the  stars  to  which  it  belongs, 
indicating  that  it  shines  with  reflected  light.  Then 
the  behaviour  of  Nova  Persei,  the  star  which  suddenly 
blazed  out  in  the  constellation  Perseus  in  1901,  sug- 
gested the  existence  in  that  connection  of  a  vast 
dark  nebula.  It  lighted  up  a  region  of  the  sky,  the 
magnitude  of  which  forbade  the  idea  that  there  had 
been  any  transmission  of  matter  across  that  space.  The 
phenomenon  could  only  be  due  to  the  velocity  of  light. 

The  paper  before  me  makes  favourable  mention 
of  the  "  planetesmal  "  theory,  that  has  been  much 
discussed  of  late  in  scientific  reviews,  bracketing  it 
with  the  theory  that  nebulse  that  show  planetesmal 
knots  or  nuclei  have  originated  from  the  collision  of 
worn-out  suns.  Possibly !  There  is  reason  to  suppose 
that  such  collisions  are  among  Nature's  methods  in 
starting  a  new  nebula,  but  it  is  just  as  easy  to  assign 
planetesmal  knots  to  the  aggregation  of  matter  within 
the  spirals  of  a  nebula  after  it  has  been  started  in 
business  by  some  other  device — the  condensation  of 
etheric  matter  from  infinite  space,  for  example. 

One  word  more  while  on  this  subject  concerning 
a  theory  that  some  astronomers  have  favoured  to  the 
effect  that  nebulse,  in  some  cases  at  all  events,  may 
be  so  remote  that  they  constitute  Universes  outside 
our  own  altogether.  "  Our  "  Universe,  on  that 
hypothesis,  is  the  whole  stellar  system  embraced  by 
the  Milky  Way,  and  shaped,  in  the  aggregate,  like  a 


The  Borderland  of  Science  275 

millstone,  the  diameter  greatly  exceeding  its  thickness. 
Nebulae  are  more  frequent  in  the  direction  of  the 
thickness  than  in  that  of  the  diameter,  and  from  that 
condition  of  things  the  hypothesis  referred  to  has 
arisen.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me  to  rest  on  quite 
insufficient  data,  and  I  am  glad  to  see  that  an  American 
astronomer,  Professor  Barnard,  dismisses  it  with 
confidence  in  its  mistaken  character.  "  We  used  to 
think,"  he  says,  "of  these  nebulae  as  being  at  such 
vast  distances  from  us,  much  beyond  the  limits  of  our 
universe  of  stars.  Photography  has  shown  in  many 
ways  that  though  their  distances  must  be  great  indeed 
they  are  often  well  this  side  of  more  distant  stars,  and 
that  many  of  them,  perhaps  most  of  them,  are  within 
our  stellar  system,  and  are  no  farther  away  than  some 
of  the  brighter  stars." 

In  connection  with  the  services  photography  has 
rendered  to  astronomical  science.  Professor  Barnard 
mentions  one  that  is  new  to  me,  though  doubtless 
familiar  to  experts  in  that  line.  Comets,  but  faintly 
perceptible  by  the  telescope  and  showing  no  tails 
to  the  observer,  are  seen  to  have  tails  by  the  photo- 
graphic plate.  And  such  tails  will  sometimes  be  seen 
to  drift  away  from  the  comet  altogether,  the  plate 
following  them  for  some  days  till  they  dissipate 
in  space.  That  fits  in  beautifully  with  the  theory  that 
comets'  tails  consist  of  minute  particles  driven  off 
by  light  pressure  from  the  Sun,  though  we  have  to  take 
into  account  evidence  afforded  by  the  plate  that 
changes  take  place  in  the  structure  of  comets'  tails 
apparently  due  to  forces  emanating  from  the  comet 
itself. 

2. — Within  or  Beyond  our  Universe? 

The  American  magazine  Popular  Astronomy  is  a  very 
serious  publication,  claiming  respectful  attention,  so 
I  have  been  much  interested  in  a  statement  I  find 


276     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

in  the  last  number,  concerning  the  well-known  and 
beautiful  globular  cluster  in  Hercules.  This  is  one 
of  the  most  wonderful  objects  in  the  heavens  when 
seen  through  a  fine  telescope.  It  consists  of  thousands 
of  suns  aggregated  together  in  dense  mass,  so  that  the 
light  of  all  those  situated  towards  the  middle  is 
blended  in  one  mighty  glow,  only  those  towards  the 
periphery  of  the  stupendous  assemblage  being  dis- 
cernible as  separate  points  of  light.  Now  it  appears 
that  one  astronomer,  Mr.  Harlow  Shapley,  of  the 
Mount  Wilson  Solar  Observatory,  has  arrived  at  the 
conclusion — by  what  process  of  reasoning  we  are  not 
told — that  the  cluster  is  distant  from  us  to  an  extent 
that  would  make  its  parallax  (if  it  had  one)  o"oooi. 
Its  distance  from  us,  therefore,  would  be  100,000  light 
years,  and  its  diameter  1,000  light  years.  According 
to  this  calculation,  says  Popular  Astronomy,  "  the 
cluster  is  thus  another  sidereal  universe  external  to 
our  own."  Of  course  some  astronomers  have  always 
been  inclined  to  think  that  some  of  the  nebulae 
are  in  this  way  other  universes — a  view  I  have  always 
been  disinclined  to  adopt.  Mr.  Pickering,  I  see,  who 
contributes  to  the  magazine  just  quoted  an  article 
on  "  the  sixty  finest  objects  in  the  sky,"  merely 
mentions  the  cluster  in  Hercules  as  a  very  fine  object, 
and  does  not  discuss  Mr.  Shapley 's  calculation.  But 
he  treats  the  fact  that  most  of  the  clusters  lie  within 
5  to  30  degrees  of  the  Galactic  equator  as  adverse 
to  the  theory  that  they  are  objects  lying  beyond  the 
Galaxy,  "  although  such  may  nevertheless  be  the 
case." 

Now  the  line  of  thought  that  seems  to  me  more 
definitely  adverse  to  the  theory  has  to  do  with  in- 
finitudes of  various  unthinkable  orders,  taken  in  con- 
junction with  ideas  suggested  by  the  visible  facts  of 
our  own  Universe.  By  that  last  phrase  I  mean  all 
the  millions  of  visible  stars  embraced  by  the  Milky 


The  Borderland  of  Science  277 

Way.  The  actual  diameter  of  the  space  included  by 
that  wonderful  girdle  is  a  matter  of  conjecture,  but 
roughly  the  Milky  Way  is  often  spoken  of  as  probably 
about  50,000  light  years  away  from  us  in  either 
direction,  assuming  that  we  are  somewhere  near  the 
centre  of  the  whole  system,  there  or  thereabouts. 
Now  planetary  distribution  within  the  Solar  System 
shows  us  outer  planets  set  at  ever  increasing  dis- 
tances from  the  central  Sun.  We  have  not  yet  worked 
out  any  map  showing  the  distribution  of  Solar  Systems 
in  the  Universe,  but  the  old  Hermetic  philosophers 
had  a  favourite  saying,  "  As  below,  so  above."  It 
is  applicable  to  many  observed  facts  of  Nature,  and  if 
we  start  with  the  assumption  that  in  the  infinities 
of  space  there  may  or  must  be  other  universes,  the 
probability  would  be  that  they  are  dispersed  in  space 
on  principles  resembling  the  dispersal  of  planets  within 
the  Solar  System.  The  nearest  planet  to  the  Sun  is 
many  times  as  distant  as  the  Sun's  diameter.  The 
nearest  external  universe  to  us  ought  on  the  same 
principle  to  be  many  times  the  distance  of  our  Uni- 
verse's diameter,  and  that,  as  I  have  said  above,  is 
guessed  at  about  100,000  light  years,  so  the  nearest 
external  universe  ought  to  be  much  more  than  that 
distance  away.  It  sounds  ridiculous  to  talk  of 
100,000  light  years  as  an  incredible  measurement  by 
reason  of  being  too  little,  but  in  talking  about  universes 
we  must  think  in  terms  of  infinitude. 

All  this,  I  grant,  is  in  the  region  of  the  most  un- 
practical thinking  in  which  we  can  indulge,  but  that 
is  one  of  the  fascinating  attributes  of  astronomy — 
it  takes  us  outside  the  area  of  low-down  practicalities. 

3. — Planets,  Stars  and  Atoms 

Like  other  sciences  astronomy  was  paralyzed  by 
the  war,  and  very  little  new  work  was  accomplished 
during   its   progress.     But   some   observations   were 


2/8     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

directed  to  the  question  whether  the  satellites  of 
Jupiter  revolve  on  their  axes  or  keep  only  one  face  to 
their  august  primary.  To  be  more  rigidly  accurate : 
do  they  rotate  on  their  axes  only  once  in  the  period 
of  a  revolution  round  the  primary,  or  more  often  ? 
The  question  is  full  of  interest,  because  it  is  always 
cropping  up  in  reference  to  the  interior  planets,  Venus 
and  Mercury,  and  has  a  very  important  bearing  on  all 
speculation  as  to  life  in  other  worlds.  The  one 
celestial  body  that  undoubtedly  turns  only  one  face 
to  its  primary  is  our  own  moon;  but  by  common 
consent  the  moon  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  dead  planet, 
whether  we  accept  (what  seems  to  me)  the  foolish 
theory  that  it  is  a  fragment  of  the  earth  torn  off 
at  an  early  stage  of  our  planetary  life,  or  the  other 
theory  that  it  is  really  the  remains  of  an  older  world 
than  ours,  the  outer  casings  of  which  were  melted 
off  when  the  nebular  condensation  that  gave  rise  to 
our  world  was  in  progress.  Now  we  cannot  frame 
any  corresponding  hypothesis  that  would  account  for 
the  satellites  of  Jupiter.  Let  me  remind  the  reader 
of  what  we  know  about  them. 

Leaving  out  of  account  the  later  discovered  exterior 
satellites  outside  the  familiar  four — and  these  may 
be  merely  masses  of  meteoric  matter  caught  by  the 
attraction  of  Jupiter — the  well-known  four  are  bodies 
of  considerable  magnitude.  The  two  innermost,  lo 
and  Europa,  to  give  them  the  names  that  have  been 
assigned  to  them,  are  somewhat  smaller  than  our 
moon,  the  two  outer  ones,  Ganymede  and  Callisto.  are 
somewhat  larger.  These  have  been  the  subject  of 
study  by  Mr.  Waterfield  of  the  British  Astronomical 
Association,  and  he  thinks  he  has  discerned  markings 
which  show  that  Callisto  always  turns  the  same  face 
to  Jupiter,  while  Ganymede,  the  outermost  of  the 
four,  does  not  seem  quite  to  do  this,  but  has  a  period 
of  rotation  fifty-nine  minutes  less  than  the  period  of 


The  Borderland  of  Science  279 

its  revolution  round  the  primary.  It  seems  pre- 
sumptuous to  criticize  the  conclusions  of  an  astronomer 
using  powerful  instruments,  but  this  theory  about 
tidal  action — the  assumed  cause  of  the  single  rota- 
tion idea — ^is  so  much  in  fashion  just  now  that 
one  can  well  believe  observers  falling  in  with  it, 
prone  to  discover  evidence  in  its  favour.  My  main 
objection  to  it  turns  on  very  broad  principles  which 
seem  to  underlie  all  reasonable  theories  of  the  Uni- 
verse. So  far  as  observation  enables  us  to  check  the 
conception,  the  purpose  of  manifestation  on  the 
physical  plane  is  to  provide  for  the  activities  of  life. 
All  intelligent  thinkers  have  long  since  got  beyond 
the  primitive  notion  that  the  Earth  is  the  only  in- 
habited world;  that  the  Sun  and  stars  exist  merely 
for  our  sake.  We  need  not  jump  to  the  conception 
that  all  other  worlds  are  inhabited  by  beings  just  like 
ourselves,  but  the  more  closely  we  study  the  Earth 
the  more  we  find  it  teeming  with  life  of  one  kind  or 
another  in  every  corner,  life  in  forms  adapted  to  the 
most  varied  conditions  of  heat  an(J  cold.  Directly 
faith  lifts  us  above  blank  materialism  it  becomes  im- 
possible to  rest  content  with  the  idea  that  any  of  the 
other  planets  of  the  Solar  System  are  mere  purpose- 
less masses  of  dead  matter.  They  must  be  theatres  of 
life  of  one  kind  or  another. 

Now  the  theory  about  turning  one  face  to  the 
primary  has  even  been  applied  to  the  mterior  planets 
of  our  system.  Venus  and  Mercury  are  supposed 
by  some  astronomers  to  turn  only  one  face  to  the  Sun. 
But  this  arrangement  would  make  them  unfit  to  be 
the  theatres  of  life  of  any  kind.  One  part  would  be 
burnt  to  a  cinder,  and  the  other  frozen  to  an  un- 
imaginable degree.  The  theory  as  applied  to  Venus 
and  Mercury  is  an  insult  to  the  harmonies  of  Nature, 
and  if  observers  think  they  have  detected  markings 
the  motions  of  which  seem  to  imply  the  single  rota- 


28o     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

tion  arrangement — I  do  not  say  tant  pis  pour  les 
fails,  but  tant  pis  pour  the  current  interpretation  of 
the  facts.  As  regards  the  satellites  of  Jupiter  it  is 
true,  even  though  they  should  really  turn  one  face  to 
the  primary,  they  would  in  their  revolution  round 
him  turn  all  faces  in  succession  to  the  Sun,  so  such 
light  and  warmth  as  they  get  from  him  would  be 
evenly  diffused.  On  the  other  hand,  as  against 
Mr.  Waterfield's  contention,  we  have  to  take  first  the 
all  but  universality  of  the  habit  celestial  bodies  have 
of  turning  on  their  axes.  Secondly,  the  Jupiter 
satellites,  whatever  their  origin  may  have  been,  are 
certainly  not  what  our  satellite  is,  remains  of  a 
world  older  than  the  primary.  They  are  four  inde- 
pendent bodies  of  considerable  magnitude,  and  we 
must  await  the  development  of  our  knowledge  to 
a  far  higher  level  than  we  have  yet  reached  before 
expecting  to  comprehend  their  beginnings,  "  We 
are  ancients  of  the  Earth,"  etc.,  and  the  expansion  of 
our  faculties  since  the  days  of  King  Alfred  have 
bridged  the  spaces  of  this  world  in  a  way  that  would 
have  indeed  seemed  unthinkable  for  the  earlier 
ancients  of  that  time.  Another  advance  of  corres- 
ponding importance  may  enable  us,  or  our  successors, 
to  cross  in  consciousness  the  spaces  of  the  Solar 
System. 

In  another  direction  of  astronomical  research  some 
American  attention  has  been  turned  to  Star  Clusters, 
with  results  rather  too  speculative  to  command 
unqualified  trust.  Working  with  calculations  based 
upon  apparent  magnitudes  and  probable  (!)  real 
luminosities,  one  observer  of  the  great  cluster  in 
Hercules  assigns  to  it  a  parallax  that  would  give  the 
distance  across  the  cluster  as  i,ioo  light  years.  The 
calculation  is  used  to  fortify  the  conjecture  that  such 
clusters  are  distant  universes  lying  in  space  apart 
from    our    Universe,    bounded   by   the    Milky  Way. 


The  Borderland  of  Science  281 

Except  as  giving  us  enormous  magnitudes  to  think 
about,  speculation  of  this  order  hardly  seems  in- 
teresting. 

META-SCIENCE 

We  recognize  "  metaphysics  "  as  a  formless  realm 
in  which  the  mind  may  wander  and  be  free  of  the 
tiresome  regulations  that  impede  thinking  when  we 
are  concerned  with  Science.  But  as  the  intelligence 
of  the  world  expands,  may  there  come  into  recognition, 
by  degrees,  a  variety  of  thinking  that  shall  be  called 
"  meta-science,"  based  on  a  gradual  comprehension 
of  natural  law  extending  beyond  the  realm  of  matter  ? 
An  article  on  "  Fatalism  and  Destiny  "  in  the  Times 
Literary  Supplement,  just  published  as  I  begin  to  write, 
suggests  this  question.  The  author  of  the  article 
reaches  no  definite  conclusions,  and  is  mainly  con- 
cerned with  putting  aside,  in  an  attitude  of  lordly 
superiority,  what  he  assumes  to  be  a  tendency  among 
soldiers  engaged  in  the  war  to  adopt  the  theory  of 
fatalism.  Such  theories  "  are  strange,  because  they 
seem  like  the  intrusion  of  a  forgotten  human  nature 
into  the  rational  body  of  our  beliefs."  The  soldier 
in  the  midst  of  exploding  shells  is  graciously  pardoned 
for  taking;  refuge  in  fatalism,  and  the  author  wanders, 
for  three  columns,  around  the  subject,  somehow 
finding  comfort  in  a  distinction  between  fatalism 
and  "  destiny,"  the  value  of  which  may  not  be  very 
clear  to  the  reader. 

Now  it  is  quite  true  that  the  war  has  made  the 
whole  subject,  and  many  others  that  cling  to  it,  much 
more  insistent  in  their  demand  on  attention  than 
they  used  to  be  in  the  ancient  days  of  peace.  And 
the  wave  of  interest  in  super-physical  research  and 
speculation  that  is  spreading  through  the  intellectual 
world  has  a  force  that  seems  likely  ere  long  to  bear 
down  the  affectation  that  the  newspapers,  as  a  rule. 


282     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

still  maintain — the  pretence  of  assuming  that  all 
attempts  to  penetrate  the  unseen  mysteries  of  Nature 
represent  the  foolishness  of  weak  minds  to  be  laughed 
out  of  court  by  the  sane  man  in  the  street.  People 
who  have  lost  dear  relations  in  the  war  are  not  easily 
warned  off  inquiries  that  may  throw  light  on  their 
fate.  And  when  they  make  inquiry  they  find  that 
behef  in  the  possibility  of  getting  definite  news  from 
those  who  have  "  passed  on  "  is  not  confined,  as  they 
had  been  told,  to  weak-minded  women  and  fraudulent 
fortune-tellers,  but  is  held  as  a  solid  conviction  by  a 
large  number  of  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  time. 
Then  they  are  duly  impressed.  Such  books  as  Sir 
A.  Conan  Doyle's  New  Revelation,  Sir  William  Barrett's 
Threshold  of  the  Unseen,  and  Sir  Oliver  Lodge's  Ray- 
mond, and  scores  of  earlier  volumes  of  equal  value  and 
dignified  authorship,  make  the  old-fashioned  attitude 
of  supercilious  contempt  for  Spiritualism  too  ridiculous 
to  be  kept  up  much  longer  even  in  Fleet  Street.  So 
we  may  be  approaching  a  time  when  metaphj'^sics 
of  the  old-fashioned  order — vague  speculation  about 
the  nature  of  Thought,  and  the  intangible  philosophies 
of  Hegel  or  Schopenhauer — will  make  way  for  the 
development  of  a  meta-science  based  on  as  definite 
a  foundation  of  fact  and  acquired  knowledge  as  the 
sciences  concerned  with  the  laws  governing  Matter. 
As  for  the  fatalism  of  the  gallant  soldier  taking  his 
chances  with  the  shells,  if  that  fortifies  his  natural 
pluck  we  may  well  be  content  to  let  it  alone,  and 
perhaps  meta-science  will  show  the  looker-on  that 
even  if  the  hostile  shell  bears  no  definite  address,  the 
long  run  makes  it  a  matter  of  little  ultimate  conse- 
quence whom  it  hits.  Meta-science  seems  to  indicate 
(even  in  its  present  stage  of  development)  that 
"  no  life  is  found,  which  only  to  one  engine  bound, 
falls  off  but  cycles  always  round."  Tennyson  did  not 
stop,  when  he  wrote  the  Two  Voices,  to  work  out  all 


The  Borderland  of  Science  283 

the  consequences  of  this  hypothesis,  but  amongst 
others  it  suggests  that  even  if  no  fataUsm  guarantees 
the  justice  of  each  individual  death  on  the  battle-field, 
compensation  in  the  long  run  is  mathematically  certain . 
And  that  view  has  the  incidental  recommendation 
of  making  the  Free-will  of  humanity  the  ultimately 
dominant  force  in  our  progress  through  the  ages. 

The  most  troublesome  impediment  in  the  way  of 
meta-science  progress  arises  from  the  irritation  many 
otherwise  intelligent  people  feel  when  asked  to  pay 
attention  to  some  alleged  occurrence  that  does  not 
fit  in  with  previous  knowledge.  When  new  pheno- 
mena, like  the  penetrating  power  of  Rontgen  rays 
or  the  susceptibility  of  electric  waves  in  the  ether  to 
be  detected  by  suitable  instruments,  can  be  reproduced 
at  pleasure,  the  irritation  soon  disappears,  and  the  new 
discovery  passes  into  the  region  of  common  know- 
ledge. But  sometimes  a  new  discovery,  though 
genuine,  may  for  a  time  be  elusive.  Consider  for  a 
moment  the  phenomena  of  mesmerism,  now  passing 
into  use  in  medical  practice,  though  very  imperfectly 
understood.  The  will  of  the  mesmerist  can  be  proved 
as  often  as  you  like  to  have  a  definite  effect  on  the 
patient,  but  by  reason  of  not  knowing  how  it  operates, 
irritation  prevents  the  man  in  the  street  from  be- 
lieving the  fact,  though  he  might  just  as  well  disbelieve 
in  the  aurora  borealis.  But  in  truth  few  subjects 
on  which  we  can  speculate  are  more  attractive  to  the 
meta-scientist  than  the  rationale  of  the  human  will. 
People  generally  do  not  stop  to  consider  that  it  is 
really  the  original  cause  of  almost  everything  that 
is  accomplished  in  physical  life.  No  house  has  ever 
been  built,  no  machine  has  ever  been  constructed, 
unless  to  begin  with  some  human ,  will  had  started 
the  activities  required  to  materialize  the  idea.  But 
when  it  merely  controls  the  bricklayer  (through  the 
intermediation  of  wages),  and  materiahzes  itself  by 


284     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

slow  degrees,  people  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  Will 
has  been  the  origin  of  the  result.  Future  science  has 
got  to  ascertain  whether  there  may  not  be  some  more 
direct  way  of  bringing  Will  to  bear  on  matter. 

Atoms  and  Ether 

I  have  referred  from  time  to  time  to  the  theory  that 
the  electron  is  an  atom  of  electricity  supported  (in 
the  beginning  at  all  events)  by  Sir  J.J.  Thomson  and 
Sir  Oliver  Lodge.  I  have  ventured  to  repudiate 
that  theory  in  favour  of  its  rival — the  theory  that  the 
electron  is  an  atom  of  ether  carrying  a  definite  charge 
of  electricity.  Of  course,  I  am  very  far  from  being 
alone  in  dissenting  from  the  views  of  the  dignified 
authorities  just  mentioned,  but  the  atomic  theory  of 
electricity  must  be  regarded  so  far  as  the  more 
orthodox  view  of  the  two,  and  a  recent  number  of 
Nature  actually  heads  an  article  with  the  words : 
"  The  Atom  of  Electricity."  Now,  of  course,  one 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  general  acceptance  for  the 
etheric  theory  of  the  electron  arises  from  the  view 
that  has  been  widely  entertained  concerning  the 
constitution  of  the  ether  itself.  According  to  that 
conception  the  attributes  of  the  ether  embody  a  mass 
of  paradox.  It  has  been  described  as  non-molecilar, 
denser  than  the  densest  metals  and  yet  utterly  in- 
tangible to  our  senses,  perfectly  frictionless,  inter- 
penetrating all  matter,  which  is  at  the  same  time 
passing  through  it  with  planetary  velocity.  Then 
this  mysterious  medium,  at  once  denser  than  the 
densest  solid,  and  less  so  than  the  finest  gases,  is 
undulating  all  the  time  at  rates  which  paralyze  imagi- 
nation, and  giving  rise  to  all  the  sensations  of  light 
and  colour. 

But  are  we  incapable  of  framing  any  theory  that  will 
fit  the  facts  better  than  the  ultra-dense  non-molecular 
theory  ?      The    great    Russian    chemist,   Mendel^eff, 


The  Borderland  of  Science  285 

answered  that  question  some  years  ago  in  a  book  that 
attracted  at  the  time  less  attention  than  it  deserved, 
while  now,  in  the  midst  of  the  electron  controversy, 
it  really  clamours  for  attention.  It  is  called  A 
Chemical  Conception  of  the  Ether.  I  will  endeavour 
to  explain  the  argument,  content  to  say,  first,  that 
there  can  be  no  one  in  the  scientific  hierarchy  great 
enough  to  treat  any  views  of  Mendeleeff's  with 
disdain.  He  was  the  originator  of  the  universally 
accepted  periodic  table  of  the  elements,  an  arrange- 
ment which  groups  them  in  octaves  in  a  way  some- 
what resembling  the  grouping  of  musical  sounds. 
The  elements  in  each  recurring  octave  show  attri- 
butes corresponding  to  those  of  the  previous  octave. 
The  discovery  of  this  relationship  has  given  rise  to 
many  other  discoveries,  for  there  were  gaps  in  the 
periodic  table  as  first  drawn  up  on  the  basis  of  such 
knowledge  as  was  then  at  our  disposal.  These  gaps 
pointed  to  the  probability  that  there  ought  to  be 
elements  that  would  fit  them,  and  with  that  clue,  one 
by  one  most  of  these  have  been  discovered. 

Within  recent  years,  however,  the  discovery  of 
the  inert  gases  of  the  atmosphere — argon,  helium, 
krypton  and  the  rest — presented  chemists  with  a  new 
puzzle.  There  was  no  place  for  them  in  the  periodic 
table.  Mendeleeff,  in  the  book  I  have  named  above, 
finds  the  difficulty  merely  the  introduction  to  a  new 
and  brilliant  hypothesis.  All  these  inert  gases 
form  a  new  group  or  column  by  themselves,  and  their 
atomic  weights  fit  in  with  this  arrangement.  But 
there  are  gaps  in  the  new  column  1  To  make  the 
arrangement  symmetrical  there  should  be  two  bodies 
lighter  than  helium.  And  this  condition  of  things 
harmonizes  with  a  belief  Mendeleeff  tells  us  he  has 
long  entertained  that  there  ought  to  be  two  "  ele- 
ments," as  yet  unknown  to  science,  lighter  than 
hydrogen.     He  boldly  fills  up  these  two  gaps  with 


286     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

bodies  x  and  y,  and  x,  the  lighter  of  the  two,  he 
suggests,  is  the  Ether  I 

This  presentation  of  the  idea  by  such  an  illustrious 
representative  of  orthodox  chemistry  as  MendeleefF 
will  be  of  fascinating  interest  to  a  group  of  thinkers  on 
subjects  of  this  kind,  towards  whom,  though  they  may 
seem  as  yet  in  the  vanguard  of  wild  speculation,  my 
sympathies  are  inclined  to  lean.  According  to  that 
view  the  ether  is  the  ultimate  form  of  physical  matter, 
from  which  all  the  familiar  varieties  of  matter  are 
derived.  This  view  establishes  the  ether  really  as 
the  "  protyle  "  of  Crookes'  famous  hypothesis  as  to 
"  the  Genesis  of  the  Elements."  It  seems  to  me  that 
with  Mendel  eeff's  help  we  are  bringing  a  lot  of  previously 
scattered  co'nceptions  to  a  common  focus.  Arguing 
from  the  analogies  of  the  other  columns,  Mendel^eff 
assigns  to  a;,  or  the  ether,  an  atomic  weight  (a  maximum 
value)  of  0*17.  Probably,  he  says,  the  weight  is  far 
less,  as  analogy  suggests  that  its  molecule  contains 
only  one  atom.  To  interpret  the  argument  would 
involve  the  use  of  mathematical  formulae  that  would 
be  out  of  place  here,  but  it  helps  to  explain  the 
fact  that  the  ether  pervades  all  space,  disregarding  the 
attraction  of  planets.  The  velocity  of  its  atomic 
vibrations  would  enable  it  to  overcome  gravitation. 
And  the  dimensions  of  the  etheric  atoms  would  be  of 
such  a  minute  order  that  they  obviously  may  provide 
a  material  basis  for  the  unit  charge  of  electricity 
described  as  the  electron,  while  this  view  of  the 
whole  subject  gets  rid  of  what  has  always  seemed  to 
me  the  monstrous  absurdity  of  treating /orce  as  atomic. 
One  might  as  well  talk  of  an  atom  of  gravitation. 

Atoms  and  Misunderstandings 

Science  has  so  long  been  commandeered  for  the 
service  of  the  war,  that  in  reference  to  some  of  its 
pre-war  achievements  it  has  failed  to  make  further 


The  Borderland  of  Science  287 

progress.  Especially  is  this  the  case  in  connection 
with  the  study  of  the  electron,  so  that  a  view  I  have 
long  held,  to  be  a  delusion,  and  have  often  ventured  to 
describe  as  such,  still  commands  general  acquiescence. 
I  rejoice,  therefore,  to  observe  in  America  the  dawn 
of  a  clear  understanding  as  to  the  real  place  in  Nature 
of  that  elusive  particle.  Sir  J.  J.  Thomson  and 
others  still  persist  in  regarding  it  as  an  atom  of 
electricity.  A  long  and,  as  it  seems  to  me,  an  ex- 
tremely intelligent  article  appears  in  The  Scientific 
American,  under  the  heading,  "  The  Relations  of 
Matter  and  Ether."  That  all  atoms  of  physical 
matter,  even  the  finest,  those  of  hydrogen,  are  built 
up  each  of  many  electrons,  is  a  practically  estab- 
lished fact,  though  opinions  still  differ  widely  as  to  the 
number  of  electrons  in  each.  Anyhow,  these  are  sup- 
posed, quite  correctly  in  all  probability,  to  move 
about  freely  within  the  space  included  by  the  atom, 
just  as  the  planets  of  a  solar  system  move  about 
within  the  space  embraced  by  each  solar  system. 
The  article  before  me  recognizes  the  electron  as  thus 
the  unit  of  physical  matter,  while  agreeing  that  it  is 
also — or  represents  also — the  unit  volume  of  electric 
force.  It  has  a  dual  aspect.  I  must  here  quote  a 
few  lines  from  the  article  to  show  how  the  writer 
glides  into  the  view  I  have  always  maintained.  "  A 
question  of  moment  here  arises.  Can  the  corpuscles 
of  the  ether,  its  unit  particle,  be  smaller  than  this 
vastly  minute  particle  of  matter  ?  Are  we  not 
warranted  in  suggesting  that  these  may  be  in  the 
same  category  so  far  as  size  is  concerned  ?  Yet  if 
this  is  admitted  as  probable  we  cannot  stop  here. 
If  these  excessively  minute  particles,  the  electron 
and  the  ether  corpuscles,  are  similar  in  size,  may  they 
not  be  similar  in  other  directions  ?  In  short,  may 
they  not  be  identical  ?" 

On  the  basis  of  this  more  than  reasonable  hypo- 


288     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

thesis,  the  writer  goes  on  to  draw  various  inferences. 
We  start  with  the  conception  of  the  ether  as  atomic 
in  its  constitution  and  filling  all  space — the  raw 
material  from  which  all  physical  matter  is  built  up. 
May  it  not  be  susceptible  of  existence  in  different 
states  as  physical  matter  exists  in  the  three  states, 
solid,  liquid,  and  gaseous  ?  Then  the  atomic  con- 
dition in  which  it  fills  all  space  and  transmits  the 
vibrations  of  light  and  heat  would  be  its  gaseous 
condition.  In  its  liquid  condition  it  might  roll  up 
into  drops  analogous  to  those  of  water,  and  become 
atoms  of  physical  matter  !  I  do  not  find  that  idea  at 
all  helpful.  A  much  simpler  and  more  natural  view 
treats  the  aggregation  of  etheric  atoms  into  physical 
molecules  as  a  process  accomplished  by  stages. 
Atomic  ether  does  not  appeal  to  our  physical  senses. 
Evidently  there  must  be  some  minimum  number  of 
etheric  atoms  in  a  molecule  to  render  it  so  qualified. 
Aggregations  of  lesser  number  would  still  remain  im- 
,  perceptible  to  our  senses.  But  it  would  be  extra- 
vagant to  assume  that  Nature  has  no  activities  outside 
those  limits.  The  minor  aggregations  of  etheric 
atoms  that  do  not  come  within  the  range  of  our 
senses  must  constitute  so  many  varieties  of  molecular 
ether  1 

I  have  long  been  convinced  that  there  are  such 
varieties  of  molecular  ether,  and  when  this  comes  to  be 
recognized  it  will  open  the  door  to  a  flood  of  new 
speculation  concerning  the  phenomena  of  light,  heat 
and  colour.  More  than  this,  it  will  put  a  new  and 
greatly  more  nature-like  complexion  on  theories 
concerning  the  radiations  from  the  Sun.  We  are  all 
familiar  with  the  calculation  showing  that  the  heat 
radiations  of  the  Sun  are  wasted  to  the  extent  of  some 
ridiculous  percentage,  because  so  little  of  them  can 
actually  impinge  upon  the  planets.  Suppose  no  heat 
is  really  wasted  ! — that  what  we  call  heat  is  an  effect 


The  Borderland  of  Science  289 

developed  by  the  molecular  ether  surrounding  each 
planet;  that  the  vibrations  of  the  atomic  ether  of 
interstellar  space  are  not  heat  at  all  1  I  am  not 
daring  to  assert  this.  Future  discovery  maj''  follow 
some  quite  different  line,  but  the  discovery  of  mole- 
cular ether — at  present  merely  a  profoundly  plausible 
hypothesis — arising  from  the  discovery  of  the  electron, 
seems  to  me  sure  of  accomplishment  now  science  is 
getting  out  of  khaki  after  the  war. 

Certainly  we  shall  have  to  improve  our  present 
senses,  or  get  some  more,  before  we  can  expect  to 
be  directly  cognizant  of  molecular  ether,  but  we 
already  deal  with  many  natural  phenomena  beyond 
the  range  of  the  senses.  Invisible  light  and  inaudible 
sound  are  favourite  subjects  for  scientific  lectures. 
The  ultra-violet  rays  can  be  detected  by  the  photo- 
graphic plate;  the  note  of  a  whistle,  too  shrill  to  be 
heard,  can  be  observed  by  the  sensitive  flame.  Over 
and  above  the  debt  that  optics  in  the  future  may  owe 
to  the  discovery  of  molecular  ether,  it  may  go  a  long 
way  towards  breaking  down  the  habit  of  nineteenth- 
century  science,  which  used  to  make  it  so  scornful  of 
everything  it  could  neither  see,  hear,  nor  feel.  For 
many  men  of  science,  and  for  multitudes  whose  beliefs 
are  based  on  personal  experience,  the  new  senses  re- 
quired to  enable  us  to  penetrate  the  mysteries  of 
Nature  farther  than  this  has  been  done  by  merely 
physical  researches,  are  recognized  as  beginning  to 
flicker  about  here  and  there,  and  are  loosely  grouped 
under  the  title  "  clairvoyance."  They  are  already 
available  for  scientific  purposes.  I  hesitate  no  longer 
to  include  the  subject  in  the  range  of  scientific  develop- 
ments, partly  because— as  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  has  put 
it — those  who  disbelieve  in  the  existence  of  clairvoy- 
ance do  not  express  an  opinion,  but  merely  show 
ignorance,  and  partly  because  my  own  experience  has 
very  fully  confirmed  tha   view.     Vaguely  most  people 

19 


290     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

imagine  that  clairvoyance  has  to  do  with  fortune- 
telling  and  ghost  stories.  In  reality  it  is  sometimes 
directed  to  genuine  scientific  research,  and,  for 
example,  to  the  study  of  the  atom.  Along  this  line 
of  inquiry  it  has  been  ascertained  (if  we  treat  the 
method  as  reliable)  that  the  number  of  etheric  atoms 
(or  electrons)  in  an  atom  (or  molecule)  of  hydrogen 
is  18.  Current  scientific  guesses  on  the  subject 
vary  so  widely  that  some  writers  put  the  figure  down 
as  two  or  three,  or  even  one,  while  others  soar  in 
imagination  to  the  level  of  many  thousands.  The  18 
theory  is  supported  along  the  line  of  research  that 
gave  rise  to  it,  by  the  observation  of  other  atoms 
besides  those  of  hydrogen.  Many  have  been  examined, 
and  the  result  shows  that  in  all  such  cases  the  larger 
numbers  identified  with  heavier  atoms,  when  divided 
by  18,  give  the  recognized  atomic  weights  of  the 
substances  in  question.  The  discovery  is  full  of  deep 
significance.  It  shows  the  etheric  atom,  minute  as 
it  is,  to  be  actually  ponderable,  and  obviously 
supports  the  key  number  18. 

I  freely  grant  that  as  yet  the  new  senses  required 
for  scientific  clairvoyance  are  so  rarely  found  in 
adequate  perfection,  that  they  cannot  be  checked 
by  use  in  different  laboratories.  But  if  a  gradual 
prima  facie  belief  in  their  occasional  existence  gains 
ground,  efforts  will  assuredly  be  made  to  cultivate 
the  faculty  where  it  exists  in  embryo,  and  by  degrees 
true  scientific  research  will  certainly  be  pushed 
beyond  that  Threshold  of  the  Unseen  that  Sir  William 
Barrett  writes  about  with  remarkable  effect. 


ARCHiEOLOGY 

Relics   of  Antiquity 

From  Central  America,  south  of  Mexico,  as  the  country 
narrows  towards  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, the  peninsula 
of  Yucatan  stretches  out  eastward.  It  is  not  a 
region  that  tempts  civilized  immigrants.  The  climate 
is  not  specially  unhealthy,  but  too  hot  to  be  pleasant. 
Its  half-million  or  so  of  primitive  inhabitants  have 
no  mineral  wealth.  Nature  endows  them  with 
mahogany-trees  and  tolerates  tobacco,  cotton,  and  the 
sugar-cane;  but  the  only  product  which  Yucatan 
sells  to  the  outer  world  is  henequin,  a  kind  of  hemp 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  coarse  sackcloth  and 
hammocks.  Yet  from  one  point  of  view,  that  of  the 
archaeologist,  Yucatan  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
regions  in  the  world.  It  links  us  with  a  past  that  lies 
far  behind  the  few  thousand  years  that  engage  the 
attention  of  the  Egyptologist,  and  puts  us  in  touch 
with  a  period  of  the  Earth's  history  which  used  to  be 
regarded  as  entirely  mythical,  but  has  emerged  from 
that  comfortless  moral  atmosphere  and  is  now  accorded 
a  grudging  recognition  by  orthodox  geology.  The 
fundamental  fact  that  the  Atlantic  basin  must  once 
have  been,  for  the  most  part,  continental  land,  would 
no  longer  offend  any  modern  geologist.  The  idea 
used  to  be  ridiculed,  but  is  now  treated  as  a  matter  of 
course.  Plato,  however,  is  so  far  only  partially 
vindicated.  Geology  tolerates  the  theory  that  there 
must  once  have  been  an  Atlantean  land,  but  declines 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  theory  that  it  was 
inhabited.     This   is    the   stage   in    the   development 

291 


292     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

of  prehistoric  knowledge  at  which  Yucatan  comes  in. 
And  I  am  tempted  to  deal  with  the  subject  because 
one  number  of  the  Scientific  American  has  an  article 
about  the  antiquities  of  Yucatan  that  may  help  to  get 
attention  focused  on  their  enormous  significance. 

Yucatan,  says  the  writer,  can  well  be  called  the 
American  Egypt.  The  ruins  of  172  cities,  big  and 
little,  have  been  discovered,  and  not  a  quarter  of  the 
territory  has  been  explored.  Tropical  vegetation 
makes  the  work  difficult.  "  You  might  pass  within 
a  hundred  feet  of  a  wonderful  old  temple  or  pyramid 
a  hundred  times,  and  not  discover  it,  so  effectively  does 
the  jungle  screen  these  crumbling  monuments  of  the 
distant  past."  The  article  goes  on  to  tell  us  that 
some  of  these  ruins  must  once  have  been  large  cities, 
with  not  less  than  half  a  million  inhabitants  in  each 
one.  The  writer,  who  seems  to  have  had  personal 
experience,  has  found  one  pyramid  the  most  in- 
teresting among  all  these  relics  of  the  past.  The  steps 
on  one  side  are  fairly  well  preserved,  and  at  the  top 
is  a  platform,  which  was  the  sacrificial  altar.  There 
the  priests  "  cut  out  the  hearts  of  living  victims." 
In  a  great  quadrangle  at  the  foot  of  the  pyramid 
the  inhabitants  of  the  city  used  to  gather  to  watch 
"  these  festal  doings."  Around  were  the  "  palaces  " 
of  nuns,  "  for  whose  special  delectation  these  sacrifices 
were  made.  The  nuns  were  the  aristocrats  of  ancient 
Maya  society." 

The  writer  does  not  tell  us  from  what  authorities 
he  derives  his  information,  but  anyone  who  wants  to 
study  the  subject  further  will  find  all  he  needs  in  the 
books  of  Dr.  Le  Plongeon  (an  American  archaeologist, 
though  with  a  French  name),  who  devoted  his  life 
to  the  study  of  Mexican,  and  especially  Yucatan, 
antiquities,  and  did  much  more  than  merely  describe 
remains.  These,  like  the  antiquities  of  Egypt,  are 
covered  to  a  large  extent  with  inscriptions  in  hiero- 


Archseology  293 

glyphic  character.  The  hieroglyphics  seem  the  same 
as  those  used  in  Egypt,  but  the  Egyptologists  could 
make  nothing  of  them.  Egyptian  hieroglyphics 
became  intelligible  when  the  Rosetta  stone  showed 
what  language  they  spelled.  But  they  certainly 
did  not  spell  Coptic  in  Yucatan.  The  discovery  of 
the  language  they  did  spell  is  the  splendid  gift  Le 
Plongeon  bestowed  on  the  archaeological  world,  and 
because  the  results  offended  the  prejudices  of  the 
period  (still  clinging  to  the  idea  that  Atlantis  was 
a  fable),  they  were  never  properly  appreciated.  But 
the  scientific  mind  at  the  present  day  is  more  acces- 
sible to  new  views,  which  sometimes  involve  the 
restoration  of  very  old  views,  and  the  stone  inscriptions 
of  Yucatan  are  already  establishing  some  broad 
conclusions  respecting  the  people  of  the  old  Atlantic 
continent,  compared  to  whom  the  earliest  Egyptian 
and  Chaldean  civilizations  were  recent  stages  of  human 
history.  In  several  places  Le  Plongeon  came  upon 
inscriptions  plainly  describing  the  final  catastrophe 
that  submerged  the  last  great  surviving  fragment 
of  the  old  Atlantean  continent.  The  date  of  the 
catastrophe  is  even  given  with  precision.  It  took 
place  8060  years  before  the  period  at  which  the  event 
was  recorded.  Plausible  guesses  as  to  the  date  of  the 
inscriptions  add  about  3500  years  to  the  8000  odd, 
so  it  was  about  9000  odd  b.c.  when  the  stupendous 
cataclysm  took  place.  And  that  only  affected  the 
last  then  remaining  fragment  of  the  original  continent. 
Yucatan  again  helps  us  to  realize  in  some  measure 
what  it  must  have  been  in  its  entirety.  I  was  once 
intimate  with  a  friend,  who  has  since  passed  away, 
who  was  engaged  in  important  mining  operations  in 
Mexico.  He  told  me  that  in  the  course  of  explora- 
tions in  that  country  and  Yucatan,  bits  of  an  old 
road  had  been  discovered  in  the  midst  of  what 
seemed  primeval  jungle.    These  made  a  dotted  line 


294     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

on  the  map  which  extended  down  through  Yucatan, 
ending  abruptly  at  the  sea  coast.  But  again,  farther 
on,  bits  were  discovered  on  islands  lying  out  at  sea. 
Evidently  the  old  road  connected  the  cities  of  Mexico 
and  Yucatan  with  other  important  centres  in  regions 
now  covered  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Inscriptions 
deciphered  by  Le  Plongeon  relate  to  events  happening 
in  that  region.  One  of  his  books  deals  with  the 
history  of  a  certain  "  Queen  Moo  "  of  the  far-away 
past,  who  was  driven  from  her  dominions  by  usurping 
brothers,  and  migrated  by  a  long  overland  journey 
to  Egypt,  where  among  other  doings  she  introduced 
the  Sphinx  as  an  emblem  that  had  previously  been 
what  we  should  call  the  crest  of  her  family.  When 
the  world  is  at  leisure  again  to  concern  itself  with 
matters  of  mere  intellectual  interest,  we  may  profit 
by  renewed  researches  in  Yucatan  to  the  extent 
of  framing  a  much  more  complete  history  of  the 
Atlantean  period;  but  we  shall  have  to  get  into  the 
habit  of  thinking  in  millions,  instead  of  thousands,  of 
years  before  we  can  map  out  in  our  minds  the 
stupendous  periods  through  which  human  evolution 
has  passed.  Americans  do  things  thoroughly  some- 
times; and  if  they  begin  to  realize  that,  while  the 
youngest  of  the  great  nations  in  one  way,  they  are  also 
geographically  the  oldest,  they  may  find  it  worth 
while  to  devote  national  efforts  to  the  further  develop- 
ment of  the  work  which  one  of  their  own  country- 
men, Le  Plongeon,  has  begun  so  well.  They  are 
apparently  waking  up  to  the  interests  of  archaeology 
if  their  leading  scientific  paper,  the  Scientific  American) 
can  be  regarded  as  showing  the  direction  of  the  wind. 
Besides  its  Yucatan  article,  recent  numbers  deal  at 
length  with  the  antiquities  of  Ceylon,  though  these 
relate  to  the  yesterdays  of  the  world  compared  with 
the  remains  of  cities  and  pyramids  hidden  in  the 
jungles  of  Yucatan. 


CATACLYSMS  AND  EARTHQUAKES 

Everything,  says  a  familiar  proverb,  comes  to  those 
who  wait,  even  the  vindication,  at  the  hands  of 
exoteric  science,  of  information  acquired  from  the 
great  teachers  of  occultism,  however  widely  this  may 
seem,  at  first  sight,  at  variance  with  conventional 
views.  Within  the  last  few  years,  something  fresh 
has  come  out  about  earthquakes  which  has  an 
important  bearing  on  the  physical  history  of  this 
world,  as  interpreted  by  esoteric  teaching  and  in- 
vestigation. Almost  everything  that  stands  written 
in  encyclopaedias  and  popular  textbooks  concerning 
earthquakes  is  now  out  of  date,  and  under  the  highest 
scientific  auspices  we  are  introduced  to  a  view  of 
this  subject  that  begins  to  be  in  harmony  with 
Nature's  records  in  reference  to  the  great  geographical 
catastrophes  that  from  time  to  time  have  altered 
the  face  of  the  globe. 

The  modern  world  is  indebted  to  Japan  for  having 
done  most  up  to  the  present  time  in  the  direction  of 
elucidating  the  mystery  of  earthquakes.  Certainly 
Japan  has  been  better  qualified  than  any  other  country 
to  take  a  leading  part  in  this  investigation.  It  is 
favoured,  if  that  phrase  be  admissible,  with  oppor- 
tunities for  studying  earthquakes  which  no  other 
country  enjoys.  On  an  average  Japan  endures 
three  a  day,  not  always  on  the  scale  of  that  which, 
in  1 891,  destroyed  10,000  lives,  and  involved  the 
Government  in  an  expenditure  of  30  million  dollars 
on  repairs,  but  at  all  events  of  one  kind  or  another. 
Perhaps  for  scientific  purposes  the  little  earthquakes 

295 


296     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

are  most  useful.  When  towns  are  shivering  in  ruins, 
and  railway  viaducts  being  tied  up  into  knots,  the 
most  zealous  seismologist  may  get  confused  in  his 
observations.  But  anyhow,  taking  all  sorts  together, 
Japan  has  plenty  of  seismological  material  to  work 
with.  The  examination  of  this  has  become  an  in- 
tellectual fashion  in  Japan,  and  a  seismograph  is  as 
common  an  article  of  luxury  in  a  Japanese  household 
as  a  mantelpiece  clock  with  us.  The  Government 
has  liberally  subsidized  the  investigation,  and  a 
distinguished  English  engineer  for  some  time  past 
occupied  what  may  be  called  the  Chair  of  Earthquakes 
at  the  Tokio  University. 

Professor  Milne,  the  engineer  in  question,  has  thus 
become  the  leading  authority  on  earthquakes,  and  as 
such  he  lectured  at  the  Royal  Institution  one  Friday 
evening,  a  few  years  ago.  In  the  hour  he  had  at  his 
disposal  he  did  not  survey  the  various  hypotheses  that 
have  been  put  forward  from  time  to  time  to  account 
for  earthquakes,  but  it  may  be  worth  while  to  glance 
at  these  here,  for  the  benefit  of  readers  unfamiliar 
with  the  subject. 

The  volcanic  theory  has  perhaps  been  most  in 
favour.  Earthquakes,  it  has  been  assumed,  have  been 
underground  disturbances  that  have  not  been  near 
enough  to  the  surface  to  break  out  as  eruptions,  but 
have  nevertheless  shaken  and  dislocated  the  upper 
strata.  Another  notion  has  been  that  they  were  due 
to  the  influx  of  sea-water  into  internal  cavities  in  the 
crust  of  the  Earth.  Steam,  at  a  high  temperature, 
it  was  supposed,  would  be  engendered  in  this  way, 
and  an  earthquake  would  ensue  on  the  principle  of 
an  explosion  in  a  steam-boiler.  Yet  another  theory 
suggested  the  reaction  of  certain  chemical  ingredients 
coming  into  contact  in  the  interior  cavities  of  the 
Earth's  crusts.  Gases  at  a  high  pressure  were  thus 
supposed  to  be  developed,  and  hence  the  explosive 


Cataclysms  and  Earthquakes  297, 

energy  displayed.  All  these  conjectures  are  equally 
dispelled  by  the  results  of  the  Japanese  investigations. 
Professor  Milne  did  not  think  it  worth  while  even  to 
notice  the  steam  and  chemical  theories,  but  he  paid 
the  volcanic  theory  the  compliment  of  a  specific  re- 
pudiation. We  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  he 
declared,  that  earthquakes  have  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  volcanoes.  They  are  not  local  phenomena 
at  all,  not  due  to  causes  engendered  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood where  they  occur,  but  to  great  waves  or 
pulsations  to  which  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  con- 
stantly subject,  the  effect  of  which  is  not  perceived 
unless  some  rupture  ensues.  The  huge,  slow  waves 
or  undulations  are  described  in  the  new  terminology 
of  earthquake  science  as  "  bradyseismic  "  disturbances, 
and  they  are  going  on  just  as  freely  and  steadily  in 
quiet  regions,  where  earthquakes  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  the  word  are  unknown,  as  in  regions  like 
Japan,  or  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  where  they 
are  frequent.  But  now  and  then  it  happens  that 
as  the  bradyseismic  wave  encounters  some  irregular 
resistance  or  weakness  in  the  strata  it  disturbs, 
something  gives  way,  something  cracks,  and  then 
a  shiver  goes  through  the  region  where  that  occurs. 
Such  a  shiver  may  in  a  few  moments  destroy 
property  worth  millions,  and  lives  by  the  thousand. 

Another  influence  productive  of  earthquake  dis- 
turbance is  described  by  Professor  Milne  as  a  "secular 
crush  and  flow."  Observation  has  shown  how 
wonderfully  responsive  the  solid  earth  is  to  changes 
of  weight  pressing  upon  it.  The  deposition  and 
evaporation  of  dew  in  the  evening  produces  a  sensible 
movement  of  the  ground — sensible,  that  is  to  say,  to 
the  new  and  delicately  adjusted  seismographs  in  use 
for  such  observations.  What,  then,  must  be  the 
effect  of  the  regular  denudation  of  continents  that 
is  always  going  on,  and  of  the  deposition  of  the  mud 


298     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

carried  down  by  rivers  on  the  bottom  of  the  sea  ? 
The  latest  conjecture  is  that  this  pressure  is  sufficient 
to  cause  an  actual  flow  of  solid  rock  away  from  the 
regions  of  greatest  pressure.  We  know,  of  course, 
that  solid  and  viscous  are  merely  relative  expressions. 
Treacle  is  only  more  viscous  than  lead,  which  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  bullet-making  is  now  squeezed, 
cold,  out  of  holes  by  hydraulic  pressure,  and  flows 
like  so  much  putty.  Lead  is  only  more  viscous  than 
steel.  Ice,  it  is  now  suggested,  is  only  more  viscous 
than  granite.  Every  solid  substance  is  viscous  in 
one  degree  or  another.  Imagine  a  thick,  evenly 
spread  bed  of  soft  clay;  then  imagine  a  weight  put 
down  on  any  part  of  the  surface.  One  sees  at  once 
that  the  weight  would  sink  into  the  clay,  more  or 
less,  and  that  part  of  the  clay  beneath  would  be 
squeezed  out  laterally,  heaving  up  the  surface  else- 
where. That  is  just  what  takes  place  in  connection 
with  the  secular  flow  of  the  Earth's  lower  strata,  and 
here  we  get  into  relations  with  a  second  great  cause 
of  earthquakes,  the  effect  of  which,  in  causing  a 
rupture  of  the  superior  strata  somewhere,  is  similar, 
apparently,  to  the  effect  of  the  bradyseismic  wave. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  earthquakes  are  most  numerous 
in  those  parts  of  the  world  where  the  seashore  falls 
very  abruptly  into  deep  ocean.  That  occurs  to  the 
eastward  of  Japan,  and  also  on  the  western  side  of 
South  America.  But  one  of  the  most  interesting  facts 
now  brought  to  light  is  that  wherever  an  earthquake 
takes  place  the  shock  of  it  is  really  felt  all  over  the 
rest  of  the  world.  The  vibration  passes,  apparently, 
through  the  soHd  body  of  the  Earth.  We  must  leave 
off  talking  about  the  crust  of  the  Earth.  That  phrase 
is  derived  from  an  early  hypothesis  that  has  been 
discredited  for  a  long  while — that  has  been  at  variance 
with  all  the  physical  teaching  permeating  theosophical 
information,   and   is   now   clearly   untenable   in    the 


Cataclysms  and  Earthquakes  299 

light  of  the  new  seismology.  The  whole  body  of  the 
Earth  is  plainly  capable  of  transmitting  vibrations  of 
the  kind  that  are  transmitted  by  matter  of  the  utmost 
rigidity.  There  is  evidence  to  show  that  the  earth- 
quake waves  are  communicated  from  one  part  of  the 
world  to  another  with  definite  velocities,  and  they  do 
not  make  their  way  round  the  globe,  they  pass 
through  it  by  the  most  direct  line  that  can  be  drawn 
from  one  point  to  another.  The  rate  at  which  the 
vibrations  are  transmitted  is  extraordinarily  high,  in 
some  instances  approaching  a  speed  of  twelve  kilo- 
metres per  second,  or  double  the  rate  at  which  a  wave 
of  compression  could  pass  through  steel  or  glass. 
Further  than  this,  if  this  direct  line  passes  only 
through  a  shallow  segment  of  the  Earth,  the  rate  of 
transmission  is  less  rapid  than  if  it  passes  through  a 
greater  mass.  That  is  to  say,  the  most  rapid  trans- 
mission would  be  straight  through,  from  any  given 
point  to  its  antipodal  point.  I  say  "  would  be  " 
because  up  to  the  present  time  seismological  ob- 
servations have  not  been  carried  out  extensively 
enough  to  have  provided  for  antipodal  stations 
corresponding  to  the  regions  of  most  frequent  dis- 
turbance, but  the  character  of  all  observations  that 
have  been  made  at  places  widely  separated  indicates 
an  increasing  velocity  in  direct  ratio  with  the  depth 
through  the  earth  followed  by  the  course  of  trans- 
mission. 

The  trustworthiness  of  the  inferences  already 
arrived  at  as  regards  the  rate  at  which  the  vibrations 
travel,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  already  it  is  possible 
to  tell,  from  observations  in  England,  at  what 
moment  an  earthquake  has  taken  place  in  Japan. 
At  Professor  Milne's  seismological  observatory  in 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  he  has  been  enabled  on  some 
occasions  to  anticipate  the  announcements  of  the 
telegraph    in    reference    to    earthquakes    in    Japan. 


300     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

Once  he  announced — before  any  telegraphic  news 
had  been  received — that  such  an  event  had  taken 
place  on  a  certain  date,  at  such  and  such  an  hour 
and  minute.  When  the  news  came  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  things,  it  turned  out  that  he  had  been  right 
within  an  error  of  one  minute  only.  In  another  case^ 
when  the  papers  announced  that  a  great  earthquake 
had  taken  place  at  Kobe,  his  instruments  had  given 
no  indications  to  correspond.  He  declared  the  news 
to  be  inaccurate,  and  in  due  time  it  turned  out  ta 
have  been  without  foundation. 

The  importance  of  all  this  as  bearing  on  questions 
in  which  theosophical  students  are  interested,  has 
to  do  with  the  light  it  throws  on  the  old  standing 
question  of  cataclysms.  The  drift  of  conventional 
scientific  thinking  for  some  time  past  has  been  in 
the  direction  of  what  geologists  call  uniformity.  We 
do  not  see  cataclysms  going  on  around  us  at  present^ 
but  we  do  see  the  gradual  operation  of  forces  that 
over  very  long  periods  of  time  may  be  supposed 
capable  of  superinducing  the  changes  of  land  and 
water  distribution  that  must  assuredly  take  place. 
Rain  and  the  rivers  are  continually  washing  down 
the  soil  of  continents  to  the  sea.  In  this  way  ocean 
beds  are  being  filled  up,  and  existing  land  surfaces 
denuded.  Shores  in  some  places  are  being  eaten 
away  by  the  sea,  and  in  other  places  slowly  raised,  so 
that  former  beaches  are  now  hoisted  half-way  up 
high  cliffs.  In  time,  it  is  supposed  by  the  uniformi- 
tarians,  these  gradual  processes  would  suffice  to 
account  for  the  largest  changes  we  like  to  imagine. 
They  would  not  account,  however,  for  the  violent  con- 
vulsions of  which  theosophical  teachers  speak  as 
having  happened  in  the  past  and  of  which,  indeed, 
advancing  theosophical  students,  beginning  to  be 
able  to  apply  their  own  powers  of  observation  to 
remote  historical  investigation,  are  enabled  to  speak 


Cataclysms  and  Earthquakes  301 

with  much  detail.  Those  of  us  who  comprehend  the 
trustworthiness  of  investigation  of  that  sort  may 
have  no  doubt  about  the  fact,  whether  modern 
science  yet  recognizes  it  or  not;  but  it  is  always 
gratifying  to  derive  from  modern  science  confirmation 
of  theosophic  teaching.  And  while  the  local  theory 
of  earthquakes  held  the  field,  no  such  confirmation 
was  forthcoming  in  reference  to  such  events  in  the 
past  as  the  destruction  of  Atlantis.  Now  we  begin  to 
perceive  along  what  road  the  ultimate  developments 
of  physical  knowledge  will  converge  towards  the 
conclusions  of  occult  investigation.  The  brady- 
seismical  waves  of  the  new  seismology  fit  in  perfectly 
with  a  belief  that,  at  long  intervals  of  time,  natural 
convulsions  may  occur  on  a  very  much  larger  scale 
than  that  of  any  which  have  been  recorded  within 
historic  periods.  Some  of  these,  of  course,  have  been 
fairly  big.  The  Lisbon  catastrophe  not  only  killed 
60,000  people  at  the  seat  of  its  chief  activity,  but 
distributed  its  influence  perceptibly  over  an  area, 
according  to  Humboldt's  calculation,  four  times  as 
great  as  Europe.  As  we  know  now,  its  influence  must 
really  have  been  felt  all  over  the  world,  though  in 
distant  places  too  slightly  to  be  measured  by  in- 
struments then  in  use.  The  Calabrian  earthquake 
of  1783  destroyed  40,000  lives.  But,  after  all,  dis- 
asters of  this  magnitude  are  not  commensurable 
with  the  least  of  the  great  Atlantean  catastrophes. 
According  to  the  Troano  manuscript,  translated  by 
Dr.  Le  Plongeon,  sixty  million  people  perished  in 
the  final  Poseidonis  convulsion,  which  changed  an 
inhabited  territory,  measuring  over  two  thousand 
miles  one  way  by  about  one  thousand  two  hundred 
the  other,  into  so  much  ocean  bed.  For  people  to 
whom  the  six  or  seven  thousand  years  of  the  historic 
period  seem  to  afford  a  good  basis  for  generalization,  it 
naturally  appears  unlikely  that  if  our  Lisbon  earth- 


302     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

quake  is  the  champion  convulsion  for  that  period,  any- 
thing so  out  of  proportion  with  it  should  have  taken 
place  six  or  seven  thousand  years  earlier. 

The  bradyseismic  wave  system,  taken  in  con- 
junction with  the  secular  flow  of  rocks,  puts  a  new 
complexion  on  all  such  speculation.  Everything 
we  know  about  vibrations  tends  to  show  that  in  Nature 
these  movements  are  superimposed  one  upon  another. 
In  electrical  phenomena  this  is  certainly  the  case,  and 
in  fact  the  whole  principle  of  multiplex  telegraphy  is 
built  upon  that  idea.  Occult  investigation  into  the 
nature  of  the  ultimate  atom  points  to  the  same  kind 
of  complexity  there.  In  the  motion  of  the  planetary 
bodies  we  have  to  recognize  similar  movements  within 
movements.  The  diurnal  rotation  of  the  Earth  is 
superimposed  upon  the  much  slower  precessional,  or 
second  rotation.  Whatever  the  great  pulsations  of 
the  Earth's  surface  may  be  due  to,  it  is  more  than 
imaginable  that  a  larger  and  slower  pulsation  passes 
through  it  at  longer  intervals.  Earthquakes  of  the 
secondary  order,  like  those  which  afflicted  Lisbon  in 
the  last  century,  are  due  apparently  to  a  rupture  of 
some  rock  body  giving  way  to  the  pressure  of  one  of 
the  relatively  minor  undulations  of  the  strata  below. 
A  pulsation  of  greater  magnitude  may  easily  be 
supposed  to  create  a  superficial  disturbance  on  a 
different  scale  altogether,  one  for  which,  perhaps, 
a  long-continued  operation  of  the  secular  rock  flow 
has  prepared  the  way. 

In  addressing  theosophical  readers,  a  word  or  two 
seems  desirable  here  on  the  question  whether  such 
catastrophes  as  those  of  the  Atlantean  age  should 
be  attributed  to  causes  of  uniform  regularity,  or  to 
the  intervention  of  the  highest  authorities  con- 
nected with  the  government  of  the  world,  at  crises 
when  the  depravity  of  mankind  renders  the  extinction 
of  life  on  a  large  scale  a  necessity  of  the  situation 


Cataclysms  and  Earthquakes        '    303 

The  destruction  of  Atlantis  has  generally  been  talked 
of  with  reference  to  some  such  intervention.  But 
everything  we  learn  about  the  evolution  of  the 
race  to  which  we  belong  points  to  the  synchronism 
between  the  regular  progress  of  natural  law  and  the 
development  of  crises  in  human  destiny.  The  recog- 
nition of  this  synchronism  will  not  interfere  with  our 
simultaneous  recognition  of  free  will  as  regards  the 
individual.  No  one  is  bound  to  give  way  to  the  temp- 
tations of  his  race  or  period  in  evolution,  but  taking 
the  stupendous  numbers  concerned  into  account,  it  is 
certain  that  so  many,  within  a  limit  of  error,  will 
follow  the  stream,  while  so  many  will  strike  out  a  path 
for  themselves.  In  Atlantean  ages  the  course  of  the 
stream  was  in  a  direction  which,  at  all  events  for  us, 
would  be  the  direction  of  evil.  Sooner  or  later  it 
was  inevitable  that  a  condition  of  things  should  be 
developed  which  would  require  a  violent  remedy. 
One  need  hardly  be  surprised  to  find  that  the  remedy 
under  those  circumstances  was  provided  for  by  a 
geological  crisis,  towards  which  the  Earth's  strata 
had  been  moving  all  the  while  that  the  Atlantean 
majority  were  working  out  the  moral  necessity  of 
their  own  destruction. 


POETRY  AND  THEOSOPHY 

A  RECENT  article  in  the  Theosophist  deals  with  a 
subject  that  has  often  engaged  my  thoughts.  Much 
poetry  is  deplorably  unspiritual  by  reason  of  treating 
death  as  a  dismal  finality,  instead  of  being  the  gateway 
to  new  life — "  Mors  janua  vitae."  As  Mr.  Cousins 
puts  it,  a  "  revolution  in  Western  literary  arts  would 
be  brought  about  if  the  idea,  say  of  reincarnation, 
could  be  given  as  full  a  place  in  thought  as  the 
current  idea  of  a  single  life."  I  quite  agree,  but 
meanwhile  a  grand  result  would  be  achieved  if  poetry 
could  help  the  world  to  realize  that  before  attaining 
reincarnation,  there  is  a  period  of  happiness  in  the 
more  immediate  future  awaiting  all  decent  people 
on  the  astral  plane.  In  our  earlier  teaching  this  was 
a  good  deal  slurred  over,  as  still  wider  aspects  of 
truth  claimed  interpretation  first.  But  in  a  recent 
book.  In  the  Next  World,  I  have  endeavoured  to  show 
how  vivid,  delightful,  and  fairly  protracted  may  be 
that  astral  experience  preceding  not  merely  the  return 
to  physical  life,  but  preceding  any  experiences  on 
higher  planes  that  may  await  any  given  Ego.  There- 
fore, the  first  great  poetical  reform  I  should  like  to 
see  would  be  one  that  should  encourage  thought  to 
range  beyond  the  grave,  instead  of  burrowing  inces- 
santly in  that  unimportant  region. 

Consider,  for  instance,  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
passages  in  all  poetry,  Moore's  "  Farewell  to  Araby's 
Daughter  "  at  the  end  of  The  Fire-worshippers .  Its 
beauty  resides  entirely  in  the  form,  not  in  the  sub- 
stance.    It    is    altogether   a   lament.     Its    exquisite 

304 


Poetry  and  Theosophy  305 

language  is  concerned  entirely  with  the  dear  girl's 
body  lying  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  The  Peris  who 
speak  the  dirge  are  solely  engaged  with  their  efforts 
to  beautify  its  bed. 

Farewell — be  it  ours  to  embellish  thy  pillow 

With  everything  beauteous  that  grows  in  the  deep. 

Each  flower  of  the  rock  and  each  gem  of  the  billow 
Shall  sweeten  thy  bed  and  illumine  thy  sleep. 

Around  thee  shall  glisten  the  loveliest  amber 

That  ever  the  sorrowing  seabird  has  wept, 
With  many  a  shell  in  whose  hollow- wreathed  chamber 

We,  Peris  of  ocean,  by  moonlight  have  slept. 

We'll  dive  wheie  the  gardens  of  coral  lie  darkling. 
And  plant  all  the  rosiest  stems  at  thy  head, 

We'll  seek  where  the  sands  of  the  Caspian  are  sparkUng 
And  gather  their  gold  to  strew  over  thy  bed. 

For  pure  mellifluous  beauty  of  expression  those 
verses  will  rank  with  anything  in  literature,  but  what 
a  ghastly  blunder  it  was  for  Moore  to  spend  his 
genius  on  thoughts  about  the  dead  girl's  body,  instead 
of  thinking  about  the  girl  !  I  have  endeavoured  to 
suggest  a  paraphrase  of  his  superb  effusion — what 
he  might  have  given  us  instead  if  he  had  come  within 
the  range  of  Theosophical  teaching.  To  guard  against 
misunderstanding,  let  me  explain  that  I  am  not 
supposing  that  any  rhymes  of  mine  can  rival  Moore's 
in  form.  Moore — imperfectly  appreciated  in  these 
days — was,  among  all  poets  that  have  ever  lived,  the 
supreme  master  of  versification.  Tennyson,  a  far 
grander  poet  as  regards  thought,  has  here  and  there 
touched  Moore's  perfection  of  form,  but,  as  a  com- 
poser of  music  in  words,  Moore  is  facile  princeps. 
My  effort  is  a  concrete  expression  of  wonder  as  to 
what  might  have  been  the  character  of  his  "  Farewell  " 
had  he  known  what  (I  think)  I  know  about  life  im 
mediately  after  death.  Here  are  the  verses.  They 
are  not  a  "  Farewell,"  but  a  "  Greeting." 

20 


3o6     Collected  Fruits  of  Occult  Teaching 

Welcome,  thrice  welcome,  O  Araby's  daughter  ! 

A  glad  voice  thus  greeted  her  advent  above. 
The  form  cast  away  into  Oman's  green  water 

Is  needed  no  more  in  this  bright  realm  of  love. 

'Twas  fair  for  a  while,  giving  transient  expression 
For  Earth's  passing  use  to  a  soul  pure  and  white, 

But  that  is  now  rescued  from  fleshly  possession 
Arrayed  in  a  far  fairer  vesture  of  light. 

That  agonized  plunge  in  the  dark  dreary  ocean 
Was  no  coward  flight  from  pain,  peril,  or  strife; 

A  gift  to  your  lover,  an  act  of  devotion, 
A  sacrifice  laid  on  the  altar  of  life. 

The  World  left  behind  you  will  weep  o'er  your  story, 
Will  fancy  that  You  lie  asleep  in  the  wave; 

For  you  that  has  proved  but  the  gateway  of  glory. 
The  dawn  of  new  life  with  the  pure  and  the  brave 

They  bid  you  farewell,  those  who  mourn  your  wild  daring. 
They  shudder  to  think  of  your  cold,  lonely  bed. 

Oh  !  could  we  but  tell  them  how  well  you  are  faring. 
They'd  share  in  your  joy  now  your  body  is  dead. 

In  depths  of  the  sea  that  will  soon  melt  and  vanish. 
On  heights  of  the  Astral  your  beauty  revives. 

The  grief  that  once  marred  it  this  glow  will  soon  banish. 
With  all  that  disfigured  Earth's  lowlier  lives. 

Nor  shall  you  be  saddened  to  think  of  their  sadness 

Who  even  may  weep  at  your  pitiful  fate ; 
Now  weeping,  the  better  they'll  share  in  your  gladness 

When  they  too  inherit  the  life  they  await. 

No  graven  stone  tells  where  the  form  that  once  bound  you 
Restores  to  the  Earth,  from  the  Earth  what  it  drew; 

How  little  you  care,  as  the  scenes  now  around  you 
Enchant  your  new  senses  with  limitless  view. 

But  see  !  who  approaches  ?  Reborn  with  new  vigour, 
How  needless  'twas  even  his  fate  to  deplore. 

With  rapture  he  sees  you  !  No  flames  could  disfigure 
That  form.     It  is  he  !  'tis  your  lover  once  more. 

There  are  many  other  well-known  poems  dealing 
with  death  that  might  be  recast  along  similar  lines: 
"  The  Burial  of  Sir  John  Moore,"  for  example,  though 


Poetry  and  Theosophy  307 

those  rather  ponderous  verses  do  riot  attract  one  to 
the  task.  Poetry,  indeed,  is  dotted  all  over  with 
blemishes  due  to  ignorance  of  astral  conditions,  and 
perhaps  it  may  be  admitted  that  even  Theosophical 
literature,  apart  from  poetry  altogether,  has  some- 
times tended  to  chill  imagination  by  leaving  too  much 
out  of  account  the  gradual  character  of  the  transition 
from  this  life  towards  the  illimitable  future  of  human 
evolution.  Natural  law  is  very  patient  with  the 
pardonable  cravings  of  personality,  and  lofty  teaching 
is  sometimes  made  to  seem  repellent  by  neglecting 
this  profound  truth,  as  was  illustrated  by  a  remark 
I  once  heard  of,  made  by  a  lady  who  said  she  was  much 
attracted  to  Theosophy  but  could  not  be  a  Theosophist 
because  she  loved  her  husband  and  her  children  1 
One  can  easily  understand  the  peculiar  variety  of 
foolishness  on  the  part  of  some  ill-qualified  exponent 
of  Theosophy  who  gave  her  that  impression.  The 
charms  of  the  higher  astral  life  ought  to  find  more 
frequent  description  in  Theosophical  literature,  as 
well  as  in  the  poetry  of  the  future. 


NOTE 

The  substance  of  some  of  the  various  essays  in  this 
book  has  appeared  in  The  Nineteenth  Century,  The 
Messenger  (California),  The  Vahan,  The  Pioneer 
(Allahabad),  Lucifer,  and  The  Theosophist.  "  Ex- 
panded Theosophical  Knowledge  "  was  originally 
published  as  a  pamphlet  by  the  Theosophical  Book 
Shop,  42,  George  Street,  Edinburgh.  "  Theosophical 
Teachings  Liable  to  be  Misunderstood  "  and  "  The 
Pyramids  and  Stonehenge  "  appear  among  the 
Transactions  of  the  London  Lodge  of  the  Theosophical 
Society.  The  substance  of  the  "  Super-Physical  Laws 
of  Nature  "  and  "  The  Higher  Occultism  "  was  de- 
livered in  addresses  to  the  Eleusinian  Society,  since 
merged  in  the  London  Lodge  of  the  Theosophical 
Society. 


BILLING   AND   SONS,   LTD.,   PRINTERS,    GUILDFORD,   ENGLAND. 


University  of  CaMfornja 
SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FA^  3, 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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